X High School
by Green Gallant
Summary: Rich Grayson is a motocross racer, with his friends Gar, Tara, Kori, Raven, Vic and Slade they attend the world's most extreme high school. But now there lives are about to change as a new evil threatens our world. Now the real fun begins. RxK, GxT, SxR
1. Friday Morning Race

_Author's Note: This is Green Gallant. This is my take on what a high school Titans fic should look like. Its more in the guy's perspective with sports, racing and that sort of stuff. But as I've quickly discovered girls like this fic too, I should know from my beta readers. I do hope that you enjoy this fic and please leave a review at the end. I am Green Gallant and I do not own the Titans, any of the name brands mentioned in this fic and I hope that you'll enjoy reading this refreshing new take on high school fanfiction. Here is X High School, chapter 1. "Friday Morning Race." Enjoy._

_**X High School**_

**_Chapter 1: Friday Morning Race_**

It's a Friday morning in the city of San Antholas, alarm clocks are buzzing. Kids are turning over in their beds groaning, trying to get in what little sleep they could. In multiple screens teenagers are seen going through their morning routines. Eating breakfast on the way out the door, Richard Grayson throws his bag in the back of his car, a red 80s Corvette and drives out. At the same time Victor Stone was getting in his late 90s black Camero and pulls out. And Garfield Logan who had just gotten into his late 90s green Pontiac Grand Am and pulled out of his drive. Down the street a girl with red hair was getting into her purple Grand Am and drives off.

While Kori took a different route, the boys all met up at the stoplight. Three-lane Street all of them lined up in a row. Red, green and black they look across and gave each other "the look" that smirk on their face with slits in their eyes that says "You wanna race?" they each rev their engine and nod their head ever so slightly. Silently said "You're on." They revved their engine more waiting for the light. It turned green and they're off! Tires squealing as they come barreling off the starting line. Gar was the first one off, but Rich in a split second took the lead. Vic wasn't far behind as he tried to gain the lead over Rich. And Victor takes the lead in the Black Camero putting some distance between him and the red Vette. Vic laughed out loud as he left his friends in the dust Richard smirked, "Think again." He said as shifted down and let his lead foot do the rest. In a second he passed his friend and to piss him off signaled as he got in front. Victor growled and pressed harder on the gas the engine roared as he caught up with Rich getting to the left lane. His bumper lined up with the rear tire of the Corvette. And poor Garfield in his Grand Am was left in the dust.

At 70 miles per hour the Corvette and the Camero raced down the city street cars on side streets barely dodging them, the sound of blaring horns filling the air. And Garfield was doing his best to keep up with them. He grunts gritting his teeth, grabbed his manual gearshift and laid the hammer down, he sped all the way up to 100 mph and in seconds was back in the race. He went to the outside right and blows right past them. "He asked for it." Richard said and threw the hammer down, taking his car up to 100, and Victor did the same. The three of them raced through town at near top speeds, side by side by side. Once they got past another street corner they quickly slowed down so as to avoid an accident. The red and black cars passed the green sedan as they made into the final stretch. But this race is not over for Logan as he pulls one final stunt he once again pulled to the outside right and got up on the sidewalk, the emerald sedan skipped across the pavement as he chased after his friends. He's not going to lose this one. Richard looked to his passenger's side and see Garfield's car bouncing across the sidewalk in an attempt to win the race. The surprised look on his face, Victor took notice too. He'd had never done this before. Gaining a slight lead over his friends Gar pulled back onto the street with plenty of distance between the. At the school a group of kids sit and wait "Here they come!" yelled a spotter. They jump to their feet and begin cheering, as the green Pontiac was the first one across the finish line, with the red Corvette in second and the black Camero in last. Garfield's car screeches to a halt and revs the engine triumphantly. He shut off the engine and stepped out of the car. Richard and Vic got out of their cars and walked over. The spectators made room for them. "I think you guys know what this means." Gar said hands on his hips; the two of them sigh and pull out their wallets the crowd cheers as they paid their friend. "Good race Gar." Richard said. "Yeah man, never saw it coming." Vic said. "Thanks dudes." He said "Seriously good job." said their silver haired friend. "Thanks Slade!" Garfield said. "Let's hear it for Garfield everybody!" Slade yelled. Students cheered loudly. It's just another day at X High School.

Sometime later Gar was walking down the hall when he came up to a red haired girl putting her books in her locker she turned smiling "Hey Gar, I heard you won the race. Congratulations." She said. "Thanks Kor!" he said. High fiving her "It's about time you won a race." She said. "Yeah, tell me about it." He said. "Oh, I'm so glad its Friday." She says. "I know test week was a nightmare." He said. "Well, didn't you study?" she asked "Barely." He admitted. She tisked, "Well I have to go to class." Shutting her locker door "I'll catch ya later Wild Man." She said. "See ya Fire!" he called and headed off in the opposite direction.

A few minutes later they're in their classes. Wild Man sat in the third row from the back of the class. Dr. Light was going on in his lecture; Gar had totally left the zone. He didn't care, no one ever did besides Dr. Light's…not exactly teacher of the year material and is often corrected by one of his students. Gar was doodling on a scrap piece of paper when a note was passed up from behind. He was poked in the side, he reached back and took the folded up piece of paper. Hiding behind his textbook he unfolded the note, "Gar, do you want to go out tomorrow night? – Tara" He smiled and replied answering "Yeah" circling it and began to pass it back, when he suddenly saw that his teacher was standing above him "Care to share that with the rest of the class?" he asked "Uhhhhh." Light stuck out his hand "The letter if you please." Garfield sighed and reluctantly handed him the note he read it aloud. "Gar, do you want to go out tonight? Signed Tara." Gar began to blush "And your answer was 'Yeah'. Well, I hope you two lovebirds don't have anything planned for the next hour because you're going to be spending that time right here in detention." He said. Students laughed. Tara blushed horribly and laid her head down on the desk. "Great now my teacher's playing matchmaker." Gar thought to himself. His head in his hands

About an hour or so later the lunch bell rings. On such a nice day students eat outside. A girl with long purple hair was sitting on top of one of the picnic tables playing guitar. She was wearing a dark blue dress that showed her gray back with splits up going up the sides of her long skirt. She was playing the song "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" by KT Tunstall. A kid wearing a white t-shirt and a green button down was walking past them carrying his lunch he had one eye. His name is Seymour Conner but everyone calls him Flip. He's a good kid, loads of laughs and lots of fun lost his eye in a shooting accident with a BB gun when he was a kid. Despite this, his peers respect him. Over there is his girlfriend, she has long pink hair that goes partway down her back. She likes to dress in black, her name's Jenny.

Slade sits down at a table with the guys, "Sup?" "Slade!" Richard said. "My dawg!" Vic said reaching over to high five him. "Sup dude?" "Wild Man!" Slade called Gar. Kori walked behind them "Hey guys!" "Sup Kori?" said Gar and Slade "Kori!" yelled Rich. He makes room and she sits between him and Gar with Slade and Vic facing them. "Beautiful day isn't it?" she asked.

At the other table sits another group of guys. They're kinda the school jerks. The large one's a dude everyone calls Mammoth. Sitting next to him is this little punkass kid Garret, bout 4 feet tall with a mouth as big as his ego, dude's a mad mechanic. Can build anything from scrap Kids call him Gizmo. If it weren't for his buddy he would get his ass stomped on by everyone.

Sitting at another table is a group of nerds and outcasts playing a magic card game. A kid with long red hair threw down his card "I annihilate you with my Zergane Desdemoto, and strips you of 500 points!" he said gruffly. "Aw man!" said a kid with a lighter sounding voice. "You loose again Griffey." Said his friend. "Conrad wins again." Said another kid, the skinny kid sat there smugly arms folded. "Now we play The Realm of the Dragons!" he said holding up a new game board he slammed it down on the table his playmates look up at him "Conrad you are such a Control Freak." One of them said. "And you've been winning every game this week." He complained a slender teen with long white hair approached them "Then maybe I can change it up." He said. They look up at him he had pale blue eyes and wore a blue baseball cap. "Who are you?" Conrad asked annoyed. "I am Mal." He introduced. "Well, Mal if you're so great. Then let's see what you got." Conrad growled. Mal sat down "Very well." He said. Conrad handed him the oddly shaped dice "You go first." he said feeling so sure of himself.

About 15 minutes later Raven was playing and others were eating when all of a sudden Conrad's scream ruptured the atmosphere "WHAT?" everyone jumps and looks toward the source of the screams "How could you…I didn't even…how did you do that!" he yelled at Mal "You cheated!" he accused. "I did not cheat, I simply rolled the dice and it landed on 18." Mal calmly said, "Besides only a ten year old of accuse somebody of that." he said getting up. "You couldn't have won, I rigged these dices myself and I…oh crap!" realizing what he had just said. His peers are giving him dark looks. "I feel my work is done here." Mal said as he gets ready to leave "You may deal with him as you please." He said. "Thanks, we will." Said one kid, Conrad chuckled nervously "Look guys, I just kidding…cant you guys take a joke?" some of these kids were taller than he was. "Get him!" said the one kid "Ahhhhhhhh!" and takes off running. All the other students laugh and watch the skinny Conrad run for his life His long red hair flying.

The school bell rings and students get up and go back to class; the group of nerds had Conrad on the ground with his arm behind his back "Ow! Oh, ow! Ow! All right! All right! OK!" he yells they let off of him, one of the nerds smacked him in the back of the head "Ow!" and leave him. Conrad got up off the ground and was the last one heading back to class. The late bell rings. In class sit Richard, Kori, Slade, Gar, Tara, Vic and Raven. Class is in session with Mr. Monty Hilldale or we know him better as... "Ello me duckies, class is now in session." He said walking into class wearing a blue long sleeved shirt with the crisscrossing stripes of the Union Jack adorning it. He also had on a black undershirt with a white ascot and pants. The young man had bright red hair with sideburns and small rectangular glasses and always at his side is his walking cane.

Class went on the same as usual; Monty was trying to convince them that the American Revolution was a hoax and that there is no Declaration of Independence. And he did his daily routine of hypnotizing the class into accepting his ideals same old, same old. That was when the principle walked in "Mr. Hilldale! How many times have I told you to not hypnotize the class?" she said breaking his control over them. "Oh, uh G'day Principle Roth." He said. "Spare the pleasantries Hilldale. You and Blud are on thin ice as it is." she spoke angrily. She turns her attention to her daughter and then back to Hilldale "And I'm docking your pay for this incident." She says. He held his hands up in defense "Uh, right won't happen again." He said. "See that it doesn't. This is your final warning Mod." she spoke turing on her heel and marched out of the classroom. Monty grimaced with his hand clutching the back of his head. In the back of the glass was groaning/gurgling sound could be heard Gar was still hypnotized. "Gar, Gar." Tara shook her friend trying to wake him. "He's not waking up." She said. "Hilldale got him good this time." Richard said. "He gets him every time. What else is new?" Raven asked. "All right stand back." Victor said as he walked over. "What's he going to do to him this time?" Richard asked. He stood next to Gar's desk and lifted his leg. He grunts, the eyes of his friends shot open and quickly get back. Pheeert! "Oh dude!" Garfield yells punching him in the hip.

"Ow-how-how!" clutching his side Gar punched him again in the stomach. "Your sick dude!" he yelled everyone else laughed at them the class bell rang and everyone got up and left. In the hallway Garfield was still fuming over being farted on. "That was not cool dude." Sticking his finger in Vic's face "Hey man, just be glad I didn't have tacos for lunch." "No, cause then I'd have to seriously bag you." His smaller friend said. "I'd watch it if I were you Vic, we both know he has a mean left swing." Richard says. "Tell me about it." Victor says.

"Hey Rich can I talk to you for a second?" Slade asked from a distance "Sure man." He said "Catch you later," he says as he walks over to Slade the rest of the guys turn and leave. "What's up?" Richard asked. Slade looking slightly embarrassed asked "Uh, Rich how well do you like Kori?" he asked. "About as much as I would any girl why?" "Well…ahem. You see the thing is that. If you didn't like her… could… I ask her out?" he asked. "Well if you want to ask her out, ask her." Richard said Slade smiled slightly "Cool, thanks man." He picks up his book bag and gets ready to leave "Just wanted to make sure that its ok with you first." he said. "Sure thing, thanks for asking." He said. Slade nodded his head and leaves. "Thanks Man." He said. Richard waves good-bye. "Good luck dude." He says.

_Please Review._


	2. Friday Night

Later that evening as their friends went their separate ways Slade decided he should walk Kori home. Turning onto her home sidewalk he asked her.

"Hey, um Kori. We've been friends a long time haven't we?"

"Since I can remember."

"How good of friends do you suppose we are?"

"Well good enough. I mean we've known each other since 5th grade."

He stopped walking and spoke up. "Kori, there's…something I want to ask you."

She stops and turns around to face him "Yeah?" she said innocently.

"I was wondering if you could go out with me this Saturday?"

"Tomorrow? Well…I suppose we could."

A bright smile came across his face.

"What time?"

"Seven?" he asked.

She thought about it for a moment. "All right."

"Thanks Kori, I'll pick you up at 7." He said and runs off

"Ok." She chuckled.

"See ya!"

"See ya later Kori!" he yells back.

Back at the school Tara and Gar are sitting in detention with their teacher Dr. Light. He sits their reading his book Tara and Gar sit there silently, they exchange brief looks at each other as time went on. The clock struck 4 and Light sat down his book

"You're free to go." He said. They get up and quickly leave the room.

"Have fun you two." He said the classroom door shuts

"Humph, teenagers." He said to nobody as he turned the page of his book.

Tara and Gar run out of the school as fast as they can. Laughing, running and jumping all the way. They take each other by the hand and continue running

"Let's go get a burger!" Tara said.

"Yeah I'm starving!" Gar said with a smile.

Later they sit at the Dairy Queen. Garfield is chowing down on a giant double cheeseburger, chili fries and a large Mountain Dew. Tara munched happily on her cheeseburger combo with a medium Coke. Gar scarfed his fries holding them high above his head.

(Eating sounds) "Auwm! Mmm mmm mmm!"

Tara laughed as she watched him eat he took a gulp of his Mountain Dew.

"Ahh!" He sets it down. She took a bite out of her cheeseburger. After taking a drink of her coke she asked him.

"So what do you want to do after this?"

(Muffled) "I don't know. gulp "Aww. Did you have something in mind?" he asked.

Tara blushed and looked away

"Well no, not really." she said innocently.

"Do you want to catch a movie?" he asked.

"Mm-I was thinking we could go for a walk." She said.

"OK. Just let me finish this." He said

"All right!" she said.

Before leaving they got ice cream and they were on their way. The park was right next door to the Dairy Queen. As they entered Twin Lakes Park they walked down the winding road arm in arm enjoying their ice cream. After walking for some distance they made it to the main area of the park. Tara ran over to the swings Gar chased after her, she got in one of the swings

"Push me!" she said.

"Ok." He chuckled eating the last of his waffle cone he began to push Tara in the swing.

"Higher!" she said he pushed as hard as he could. The open-air auditorium was a little ways across from them. It had been empty. Gar got in a swing next to her and started swinging. He pushed his legs harder going higher till he was going the same height as her. Tara ate her ice cream. They laughed as they swung in opposite directions

"Whoo-hoo! Hee hee! Ha ha ha!" laughed Tara.

"Yeah! Ha ha ha ha ahaha ha!" went Gar.

She went forward he went back and vice versa.

Then they jumped from the swings Tara took off in a bolt and raced him to the merry go round. She got in the center

"Aw come on, I pushed you last time." he said.

Tara stuck her tongue out teasingly.

"Yeah but you do it so much better." She says he chuckles.

"I knew there was something I liked about you." He said as he walked over and grabbed the railing

"How fast you wanna go?"

"Not too fast."

"Faster? All right!" and began pushing

"No!"

She grabbed hold of the circular railing as he ran around as fast as humanly possible and jumped on Tara was holding on for dear life.

"Slow down!" she said.

"Why I thought you liked to go fast?" he joked.

The carousel spun at top speed. He smiled and chuckled stuck out his foot and slowed it down a bit. Pulling his foot back in he crawled over to her in the middle and lay next to her.

"Thanks." She said placing her hand on his chest. The carousel spun around at mid speed. He put his arm across her middle lying on his side.

After a while they played a short round of Miniature Golf. It was beginning to get dark bout 7 o' clock. They were walking together in the sunset, the sky was bleeding orange as it began its decent over the horizon they arrived at Tara's house.

"I had so much fun tonight." She said.

"Me too." He said.

"Thanks for such a great evening." She kisses him on the lips.

"Would you like to come in?" she asked.

"Yeah." he said.

She opens the door and they walk in together

"Thanks." He said shutting the door behind him. A few minutes later Tara was in the kitchen.

"My parents are out of town for the weekend, meet me at the pool?" she asked.

He sprang up from the couch

"So is clothing optional?" he asked.

Tara tossed him a pair of floral swim trunks

"Don't push your luck." She smiled.

A while later Gar was in the pool waiting for Tara when the bay door slides open and out she came in a white and red floral bikini

"Wow." He said. Tara walks over to the pool

"You like it?"

"It looks very good on you." He said.

She got into the pool and swam over to him; she surfaced in front of him. He smiled, she smiles back as he drew her into his arms he kissed her; she held his sides of his face in her hands.

"I love you Tara."

"I love you too." She said. And kissed each other again

An overlap of the Nelly song "Shake Ya Tail Feather" plays with a group of guys doing the Tomahawk Chop

"Whooooo-oooooo-ooooooa. Whooooooooooo-ooooo-ooooa. Whoooooooooooooooo-oooooooooo-oooa. Whooooo-oooo-oooa. (Sfx: Police sirens)

Switching from the pool scene to the clubbin scene at the hottest dance club in town _"Adrenalin"_ the song bleeds over the speakers and in the middle of the dance floor is Kori Anders. There she is, her hips swaying side to side her arms in the air dancing her heart out. She's been coming out here every Friday night since the club opened last year. Everyone knows who she is. She's the best dancer the club's ever seen. The sweat glistens on her midriff as she danced to the music. This is how she got the nickname _"Fire"_ cause of the way she lights up the dance floor. Kori is a dancing machine, always has been. She swings her hips in slow motion with a horde of guys crowding around her, hoping to be the lucky one to dance with Fire. With her you don't dance unless you're invited.

It was then the next song started up and she pulled a random guy in with her. It was another Nelly song now they're playing "Ride Wit Me"

The song continued while she kept dancing with the guy. Sometime after the song ended she thanked the boy for the dance and went outside. The night air felt good coming out of that hot nightclub. Kori wiped the sweat from her brow. She took out her cell phone and began dialing. At the same time Richard's phone was ringing in his bedroom he went to pick it up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Rich its Slade, I asked Kori out and she said yes."

"That's awesome man. So where you going take her?" he asked as he lied down on his bed.

"Uh, that's just the thing I don't know." He admitted.

Richard rose up. "Well, don't you have anywhere you want to take her?" he asked.

Kori kept getting a busy signal.

"I wanted to try something out of the ordinary." Slade said.

Richard wrapped his chin around his index finger and thumb trying to come up with something.

_Beep_ "Uh, hang on Slade." _Beep_ "Hello?"

By this time Kori had already hung up she put her cell away

Richard: "Hello? Huh."

_Beep_ He looked over at his drawer sitting in the frame of the mirror was a pair of tickets. He smiled.

_Beep_ "Hey Slade, I just thought of something. How would you like to take Kori to the big Motorcross race?"

He walks over and took the tickets from the mirror frame.

"Is that the race you'll be in?" Slade asked.

"Yeah." he said with a smile.

Slade thought about it for a second

"Sounds like a plan." He said.

"Pick em up tonight, the race starts tomorrow at 2:30." He said holding the tickets in his hands.

"Cool, thanks man, I'll be over in 5 minutes." Slade said.

"Sure thing." Richard said. Slade hung up Rich did the same.

Kori gathered up her stuff and left the club. As her purple Grand Am cruised down the night road the headlights beams guided the way down the winding road. She had hated to drive this way so late at night. It would be sometime before she reaches town. She saw a pair of headlights behind her she sort of cringed. When the truck got up beside her she was relieved to see a silver pick up, it was one of Victor's cars.

"Yo Kor!"

"Hey Victor."

"What are you doing out here so late?" he asked.

"I lost track of time." she said.

"Why don't you follow me, this road can be dangerous at night." he offered.

"I like that." she said.

He rolled up his passenger window and drove ahead. Kori followed close behind following the taillights to his pick up as he guided her across the winding wooded road. The city lights in the distance. About a half hour later she was home they pulled into her driveway side by side. Kori walked over to her friend still sitting in the truck he left the engine running.

"Thanks Vic, I don't know what I would have done back there."

"Oh no problem." he said.

"I'll see you later." She said and went into her house

"See ya Kor." He said rolling up the window and backing out of the drive. He heads back to his home. 11:45 pm the clock read as Kori unlocked the door and walked in. She took a shower and went straight to bed. That's enough excitement for one night.

_Please review_


	3. Before the race

_Author's Note: Sorry for all the confusion, Fanfiction has been giving me some trouble. and the chapters keep getting mixed up. I'm almost tempted to delete this and start over. If anybody can give me a hand with this, I'd appreciate it. In the mean time I'll try and see if I can straighten this out myself and then get back to updating the story. Enjoy this chapter and please review if you like it. -The Green Gallant_

Saturday morning the sun was rising, Gar had fallen asleep on the couch. As the morning light came shining in through the front room window he groaned and opened his eyes 7 am the wall clock read he stretched and got up then his nose caught whiff of fried eggs. He threw the blanket off himself and headed toward the kitchen

"Hey morning sleepy head." She said with a smile.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked.

"Yeah I did."

Upstairs Tara's bed sheets were folded over to one side a single scrunched up pillow laid at the head of her bed. Tara wore a black tank top and jeans. Gar's clothes were wrinkled showing that he had been on the couch all night.

"Thought I'd make you some breakfast." She said.

"Thanks, but you didn't have to."

"Oh it's no problem Gar. 'Sides we've been friends for years." She said her back turned to him.

"Are you always up this early?" he asked.

"No not really. I would have slept for another hour." She said.

Turning from the stove she walks over and sets his plate down in front of him.

"Thanks." He said smiling at her. "No problem." she smiled back.

A couple minutes later Gar and Tara were sitting on the back step watching the sunrise. Tara put her arm around Gar's shoulders and he did the same. Gar and Tara each held a steaming cup of coffee.

"It's so beautiful." She said.

"Yeah." he said.

Watching the sunrise over the fence, Gar pulled Tara close she leaned her head on his shoulder, his cheek resting against her brow.

Across town Kori and some of their other friends were all sleeping in. all except Rich he had been up readying himself for today's big race. It's the Season Opener for the EA Sports MotoX Racing Series. This race means a lot to him, if he can finish well, then He'll be able to compete in the upcoming season. If not then his dreams of reaching the X Games will be over before they started and his plans will be derailed for a least a season. He had a couple hours before the race even started might as well enjoy the peace and serenity of the early morning. For years he had wanted to qualify for the EA Sports Series and for the past two seasons he's seen that opportunity slip away from him. Richard had been racing dirt bikes since he was 7 but he had only started racing professionally when he was 16. For the past two years he's been improving and has won a number of amateur races. He may have fallen short in the past but now his time has come.

An hour earlier 6:30 am 18-year-old Richard Grayson stands in the front yard, arms folded head bowed. Taking in the surrounding sounds: The birds chirping, the wind blowing gently in the trees and across the grass he inhales deeply as though in meditation.

"Raven was right this actually helps" he thought to himself.

Instead of using words he falls silent the soft voices of nature is his mantra. The best time to do this was in the early morning before any cars were on the streets, before the sprinklers went off before any other distraction took place. He stood there in meditation for 15 minutes and when he was done he went inside at that precise time the sprinklers went off, garage doors were opening, car engines were starting and an old man was jogging down the sidewalk.

10:30 am folks have been up for quite some time, as Kori turned over in bed she looked at her clock and decided to get up. Slade was in his living room watching SportsCenter, eating breakfast. At the same time Vic had turned on the TV in his house and tuned it to ESPN. Tara and Gar had done the same in her house. The SportsCenter theme played.

"And a good morning to you I'm Scott Stewart."

"And I'm Dan Patrick. Well in just a few short hours the season opener for the EA Sports MotoX Series. We take you now to our reporter in San Antholas, Ca." Dan said.

"Dan, behind me stands Old Navy Field where in just a few hours the Pac-Bell 200 will take place. And today is the professional debut of Richard Grayson here in his hometown of San Antholas as he competes against the best in the world." The reporter said.

At the same time Rich is getting into uniform.

_(Dan Patrick Voice over)_ "What all can you tell us about Grayson?"

_(Reporter VO)_ "Dan, Richard has been racing since he was 7 years old and had started riding professionally when he was 16. He has been in this race two times and lost both years in a row. He is a very confident rider, very well skilled and does freestyle in the off-season. I'm a told that he is a student an X High School, in San Antholas and that he has dreams of making it to the X Games someday." He concluded.

"That's really something." Dan said.

Richard was putting on his gear. Shin guards, wrist guards, protective vest, helmet and finally goggles. He stepped out into the light of day at the track.

_(Dan VO)_ "What kind of advice would you offer him?"

_(Reporter) _"I would probably tell him. To have fun out there, stay loose and yet be determined to win." The reporter answered.

_(Dan Patrick) _"All right well we wish Richard the best of luck out there today. And that we look forward to seeing him in the X Games."

The Anchor's voice trailed off as Richard walked his bike out to the track where he met his team, ready to make his practice run.

In just a few hours the first race of the season will begin. Slade had dialed up his cell. He had reached Kori's number. She took her phone off the nightstand

"Hello?"

"Hey Kori, its Slade listen Richard gave me a pair of tickets to today's race. I think he wanted us to be out there cheering him on." He suggested.

"OK. What time does the race start?" she asked taking out her notepad.

"The race starts at 2:30, but we should be out there probably an hour before the race actually starts. You know give him some encouragement." Slade said.

"Yes I see. All right, I'll meet you out at your house ok?" she said.

"That's all right with me." he said.

"And Kori…thanks." She smiled.

"Thank you Slade."

They each hung up.

"Huh." She said to herself.

She looks back at the picture of her and Rich in 8th Grade.

"One of these days Kor, I'm going to be an X Gamer, just you wait!" his younger self said to her in her mind. She smiled at the picture. Kori always had a place in her heart for him. She picks up the picture

"Maybe this year _will_ be different." She thought to herself. She sits the picture down and gets ready to meet Slade.

At Tara's house, her and Gar were still watching the report on today's race. Gar takes out his cell phone and dials Raven's number. Her cell phone rings

beep "Hello?"

"Hey Raven its Gar. Listen Dick's race is today and I was wondering if you'd be watching it?" he asked.

"Well I wasn't planning on it but…"

"Come on Raven you know how much this race means to him." he begged.

"All right I'll watch the race; I'd actually like to see him win this year." She said.

"Great you can come over to Tara's house, I'll get Vic and the others to come as well!" he said.

"When does it start?" she inquired.

"The Race starts at 2:30, but they're talking about him right now." He said.

"What channel?" she asked turning on the TV.

"ESPN channel 34." He said over the phone. And sure enough they were. Raven smiled.

"Thanks Gar."

"Sure. Bye." He said.

"Bye." She hung up and put the phone away. Raven continued to watch the report on her friend.

All across town students were tuning into to ESPN to see the latest. Eyes were glued to the screen to see the brief mention of the hometown boy. Meanwhile back at the track Rich had just finished his practice round.

"How did I do?" he asked removing his red and white helmet.

"8:24, that's pretty good, shaved a fraction off your last timing." His father said.

"Let's just hope it's enough to win." Richard said.

"You'll do just fine." Bruce said.

"Don't worry about the other racers. You just concentrate what you'll be doing. Don't ever look to the right or to the left always keep looking forward and you'll reach your goal." His father told him.

"Thanks."

"Why don't you take a breather, get some air, and relax for a couple minutes before getting back in there?" Bruce asked.

"Doesn't sound like too bad an idea." Rich said getting off his bike.

Another rider pulled up beside him dressed head to toe in red

"Try not to choke today Grayson." He said. Rich spun around

"Shut up Harper!" he yelled.

"I've beaten you two years in a row in this thing. Why don't you just give up?" he asked.

"Call me stubborn but I think third time's a charm would you say?" Rich asked.

"Yeah and third time's a charm for me to win." He said showing his fist at Richard.

"It'd be a real challenge if your bike was faster than your mouth." Rich told him.

This infuriated the crimson rider.

"Grrrrr, you better watch yourself Richard cause this year you'll be going down hard."

He pointed then made the thumbs down gesture. He revved his engine and the number 47 bike raced off.

"You had to encourage him." Bruce said.

Richard turns back to him.

"He's nothing I can't handle." He said and heads inside the trailer.

"Tell the guys I'm done with the practice bike." He said.

"Yeah…sure." Bruce said with his arms crossed.

_Author's Note: Sorry if this chapter seemed kind of week, so what did you think of it? _


	4. Motocross

_Author's Note: Chapter 4 is up. Lock and Load. _

A few minutes later Dick stepped out wearing a new uniform mostly black with yellow stripes going down the sides of his arms and legs with graphic designs of corporate sponsors and Wayne Racing adorning the chest in gray his name and number on the back of his jersey #15 in the same color. Richard's shin and forearm pads were black and he wore a yellow protective vest with the FOX Racing logo over his vest His number on the front and back of the vest with his Grayson written across the back of his shoulders. He steps out of the trailer in his official racing gear. With his helmet and goggles in hand. Crewmembers were unloading the black and yellow dirt bike from the back of the semi the number 15 on the sides and front of his bike.

While walking along side the field he heard two familiar voices. He looked to his left and there was Kori and Slade.

"Guys you made it!" he exclaimed.

Slade chuckled "Yeah, well we weren't about to let you down." Giving their special handshake.

"Richard." Kori said leaning over, they hug each other.

"You be careful out there." She said.

"Hey aren't I always?" he asked.

She didn't answer.

"I'll be careful Kor, all right?" he asked.

"OK." She said.

Slade was watching them; he can tell there was something about them. When their hug ended he looked over at Slade and they shook hands.

"Good Luck man." He said.

"Yeah, thanks." Richard said he slowly walked away from them.

"Good luck Rich!" Kori yelled.

"You can do this Richard!" Slade shouted.

Rich smiled and punched the air, he ran back to his bike they continued cheering him on.

All of Rich's friends were over at Tara's house to watch him race. Tara, Gar, Vic, Rae, Flip, Jenny, Garret, Mammoth and about a half dozen others had gathered around the TV to watch the big race. A beautiful young woman was singing a heartfelt rendition of the National Anthem.

"…_And the rockets red glare! The bombs bursting in air! Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there? Oh say does that Star Spangled Banner yet wave! O'er the land of the free! And the home of the brave!" _

Fireworks burst in the skies above Old Navy Field as cheers and whistles filled the air. The singer stepped off the grounds and they cleared the field.

Racers were at the starting gate, a wall of brightly colored riders and bikes. The announcer introduced the star attraction.

_(Stadium Announcer) _"From San Antholas, California on the black and yellow Suzuki. Number 15 Richard "Flying" Graaysooon!"

The crowd erupted in frenzy and as homes across San Antholas cheered for Richard. And the Markovs' house was no exception as Vic, Gar and everybody else jumped to their feet and cheered. Rich waved to the crowd as he rode into his position at the starting gate sitting in the right center. His archrival Roy Harper looked across from left center. After exchanging glances they return their attention to the board man who was standing right in front of them on the opposite side of the gate. He held up a sign saying 30 secs. The bikers revved their engines its time to race. 15 secs the last sign read, the board man ran off the track. The engines rev louder they waited for the light.

5, 4, 3, 2…. 1

The light went to green the gate dropped and the race was on! Tires spin in the dirt as they sped off the starting line. The bikes in the center were the first ones off. The others lagged slightly behind a couple of yards down the track and they leap over the first jump after landing there off again. Making another jump and into the first turn of the race. There was hardly any room as they all crowed the first turn. Richard and Roy were the first ones out the first turn. Briefly exchanged looks and here comes the next jump and they're flying in the air, 25 feet on that jump both of them land safely. Roy directed his bike into Richard's path Rich jerked away as he was nearly driven off the top of the next hill. Richard leaned to his right and made it just inside at the bottom of the hill it's a rough landing for him and Harper takes the lead a stream of bikes go flying over Grayson's head. He ducked burying his head. Half the roster has just passed him! Rich growls and slams his fist on the bike cursing at himself for letting it happen.

"God you got to be kidding me!" he said revving his bike and making his way up the hill.

"Damn him!" he said.

His friends groan both in the stands and at home, part of them looked away. Vic sighed.

"Come on Dick!" he yelled.

"Get back in there!" Gar yelled.

His other friends are shouting encouragements at the screen. Dick got back in the race climbing up the hill, now in a desperate attempt to catch up with the rest of the pack. His bike goes flying through the air.

He lands and hits full throttle trying to catch up with them, that little mishap put him in last place. He's already lost this race two years in a row; he isn't about to make for three. The motorcycle raced down the track at 60-mph. He leaps over another hill the back of the pack is just in sight. Then suddenly Roy Harper lapped him on the #47 bike. He looked back and waved at him and took off. Richard growled and turned the bike's throttle handle his engine maxes and he takes off on a wheelie as he passed the first half of the pack. Spectators and racers alike are amazed by what had just happened. He's now racing alongside the middle of the pack. They began to break away and go to the opposite side; they're following his lead as five to ten bikes had rallied up behind him. Two bikes were passing him on his left. One of the racers is in front of him. He looks for a way pass him, aw! He doesn't have any space! The next jump is coming up. They fly over the hill and land on the next hill as they have been doing the entire race.

The racers had begun to spread out a bit. Giving Richard the room he needs. Meanwhile Roy continues to lead the race; on his tail is the blue and yellow number 16 bike, in second place. He is the only racer that's closest to the number 47 bike. Number 16 leaned sideways his left knee inches above the dirt as he made the turn. The two of them rocket over the next hill fly high in the air. The crowd looked on in awe as they flown through the skies they both came back to earth and continued the race. The 203-bike lead the pack in third place on his orange and black dirt bike, Richard on his number 15-bike had begun passing the other racers. Suddenly number 16 slid out of control and crashed into the bales of hay that served as the walls for the track. He was lying down in the road he quickly gets up and jumps the wall as the pack drives through. They weave to avoid the abandoned bike. #203 is still ahead of them but #15 is coming up fast. With the race halfway over it seemed as through Roy had already won the race. Bur Richard wasn't about to give in, as they cleared the next jump 2 or 3 bikes crashed and spilled end over end at the bottom of the hill. Riders did their best not to hit their fallen brethren. A racer dressed in Red and Black had just escaped being clipped by one of the outside bikers as he took a step back. Richard's bike rears up as he gains a lead over some of the other racers.

Kori and Slade were going wild in the stands cheering him on. Back at Tara's house Raven was screaming at the TV.

"Come on! Go! Go! Go! Come on Rich you can win this one!" she yelled surprising everyone there.

Normally she was the quiet one. And here she is down on her hands and knees banging against the set cheering him to finally win the race. Vic, Gar and Mammoth all pull her away from the set she carries on yelling and kicking. For the first time in the race Richard is leading the pack holding steady in second place. Roy was half a lap ahead in first. As the racers rounded the bend a last place rider wipes out on the corner wall. Both bike and rider are airborne. The blue and gray dirt bike flipped wildly in mid air as it came into contact with the ground the front tire of the bike broke away. The bike was in the air again for a brief second then came crashing down going end over end with parts flying spectators duck and shield themselves. Smoke arose from the ongoing crash. The rider fell and landed face first, as he tumbled helplessly down the track. And came to a rest on his back. The bike finally came to a rest 40 feet from where the crash happened. The racers continued without looking back.

The Super Ramp was coming up Richard is still in second place. Two riders come up beside him dropping him down the forth place. Kori's jumping up and down. And Slade pounds on the wall with both fists. The two riders go up the ramp but Richard punches it and flies up the Super Ramp at top speed. The black and yellow number 15 bike rockets off the ramp and sends him flying.

(All was silent)

His bike is parellel with the stadium's Upper Deck. (The third level!) He did a back flip with his bike, an unprecedented move in motocross racing the fans stand in shock; nobody has ever done this before. Coming out of the flip he lands on his front tire and continues the race. The stadium erupts! This is unbelievable!

That little move leaves the competition miles in the dust. He comes around the next turn; he's caught up with the leader! As they round the bin he takes in the inside Roy looks at him flabbergasted.

"How in the hell did he pull that one off!"

Was Roy's reaction Dick takes a slight lead over Harper. Fans are on there feet jumping and screaming fiercely. Harper rams his opponent's bike but Richard isn't shaken. He rams him again, Richard pulls to his left to avoid getting hit again, a quarter lap to go and it's getting down to the wire. Richard veers to his right sidelining Roy who has taken the lead over Richard. Harper growls and rams Grayson one last time grinding him against the wall. Richard yells out in excruciating pain as his body and bike grinds against the hay bales. It's unbearable. Roy laughs as he watches him in agony. The paint's stripping from the bike and the left side of Richard's suit is being torn up. He let's go of the handle and slams the flat side of his hand against Roy's throat. He groans Richard made a fist and uppercuts him in the jaw forcing Roy to let up he drops back behind, coughs clutching his throat/jaw area. The last jump is coming up

"No!" Roy yells and speeds up but Richard is already up the hill. Roy is up Richard they jump. The two bikes flow through the air in slow motion. The official waves the checker flag Richard wins the race by inches and was the first to come down followed by Harper! Its over! The race is over! Harper pounds his handlebar with both fists Kori hugs Slade they're both jumping. At the house everyone's jumping and celebrating. Richard pulled in on his bike, takes off his helmet and looks around him the entire area cheering his victory.

Harper slams his helmet against the handlebar of his bike swearing profusely. The rest of the bikes flew over the finish line, engines roaring with Roy cursing up a storm. After a while it was time to present Rich with his trophy. Battle scared and weary he rode his bike up the ramp and onto the winner's plateau.

_Announcer: _"For the first time in 2 years we have a new season opener winner. The Grand Champion of the Pacific Bell 200 Number 15 Richard "Flying" Graysoooooon!"

The crowd goes wild. For the first time in several years a hometown boy has won the Season Opener. A beautiful woman handed him the cup and kissed him on the lips.

"Whooooooo!" someone went in the crowd.

He takes the cup and lifted it up triumphantly. Richard gets a standing obation. Kori leaves the stands Slade notices and follows her.

Later when he's back at the team trailer Kori runs up and hugs Richard he groans in pain.

"You won! You really won!" she said overjoyed.

"Kori easy!" he groaned.

Suddenly she noticed and cuts and scratches down the left side of his uniform.

"You're hurt!" she said.

"Just a little bit." He said.

"Medics cleaned them out." He said.

Her hands were still on his shoulders.

"Just going to be sore a couple days is all." He said.

"It was worth it though." He said. A worried expression was in her eyes. He looks up and sees Slade leaning against the side of the trailer arms crossed.

"Hey." Rich said. "Hey." He gets up and walks over to him.

"Congratulations dude." Slade said shakes Richard's hand.

"Yeah thanks." He said.

"You deserve it." Slade said with a smile.

"Thanks." He said.

Roy walked over to them still pissed from losing the race to him they see him coming.

"That race you stole from me was bull$#&!" he said.

"Oh and grinding me against the wall wasn't fair enough? By the way you're DQ for pulling that." Richard says.

"You should have been disqualified as well for that cheap shot!" he said pointing at him.

"You want to talk about cheap shots?" Rich said.

"Rich no!"

Kori holds him back Slade gets in between the two racers, daring the cocky Irish kid to cross him. Roy points his finger at Richard.

"You better watch yourself Grayson. The next time you'll be leaving a race is on a stretcher." He threatens.

He turns and leaves. Relived Kori and Slade let down their guard.

"Damn arrogant bastard." Richard says.

"Forget him Rich, he's not worth it." Slade said.

Later that evening, three large black vehicles were driving down a country road a black GMC Suburban, the Wayne Racing Trailer and Wayne Racing Semi. Bruce was driving the SUV leading the way. He looked over at his son battered from today's race.

"That was a helluva race today. I can't tell you how proud of you I am." He said.

Dick looked away from the window and over to his dad. He smiled.

"Thanks." He said.

"I'm just glad that I finally won this race." He said.

"So what did you like?" he asked.

"That flip you did towards the end of the race. You're the first MotoX-er to try that. Not only that..." a broad smile came across his face. "…You're the only one that succeeded." His father said.

"That's going to be on the Highlight Reel for years to come." Bruce says.

"Season's just starting…" Rich said.

The convoy travels down the road. Wayne Manor sits high on a hill in the distance. A while later they were home. A girl sitting in her bedroom looked out the window and saw their trucks circling around the side of the house. Bruce and Richard walked in through the grand doors. She walked down winding stairways and their butler walked in through the parlor.

"Hey." She said softly

"Hey!" he repeated they walked over and hugged each other.

"I saw the race. Congratulations." She said.

"Thanks. How you feeling?" he asked her.

"Better." She said.

"That was a heck of a race." She said.

"You don't know the half of it." He said.

"I saw what that guy did to you that was pretty rotten." She said.

"Yeah, my _side_ agrees. Ouch." He said.

"I'm sorry to hear about that." she said.

Rich grunted.

"Its all right should be healed up in a couple days." He says.

"I'm going to go lie down for a while. I'll catch you later Babs." He said as he walks off.

_Author's Note: Yeah, I decided that Babs should be in the story now, you'll read more about her in the next chapter. And **I seriously want to know what you thought of the race. I put a lot of work into that. So please honor my work and**__** please review this piece. Also let me know how you like the story thus far**. _


	5. The Party

_Author's Note: All right so the race is over and this is what happens later that night. Hope you like it._

A couple hours later Slade and Kori were at his house. When an older gentleman walked into the room she stood up from her seat and Slade took her over to meet him.

"Kori I want you to meet my Dad." He said.

"William G. Wintergreen." He introduced himself she shook hands with him.

"Hi, I'm Kori Anders." She said with a smile.

"So this is the lovely young woman you were telling me about Slade." He said.

Kori blushed and giggled lightly.

"Kori my Dad is the founder of International Search and Rescue."

"Oh wow." She says. Wintergreen chuckles.

"Yes, but I've retired from that business long ago." He says.

Meanwhile back at Terra's house the party was well under way. Teens were dancing to the music, drinking beer, and having themselves a good time. For the first time in three years Rich Grayson has won the first race of the season. They've been waiting for this day to come and it has come at last. Tara and Gar were talking in the other room; Gar had a Bud in hand.

"And your sure you don't want one?" he asked.

"Sorry Gar, I don't drink." She said.

"All right, all right I respect that. Wish I had that kind of will power." He says.

"You're a smart cookie Tara, just as I always figured you were." He said.

She smiled.

"At least I have a little control… unlike some people." Gar said. In the other room Vic was completely plastered.

He was sitting on the couch his arms in the air

"Whoooooooo-oooooh!" he yelled.

Girls were on either side of him.

"See what I mean?" Gar said to her back in the kitchen she smiled.

A few second later Vic was dancing with Karen cupping her backside. By now She would have smacked the crap out of him, but she's had a few beers herself as she danced with him. Tara and Gar had just stepped into the living room and see them dancing together and laughed as they watch the two continue. Flip was sitting on the couch, with a longneck and his girlfriend Jenny was leaning over the back talking with him. Garrett was trying to pick up three chicks at once, but with little luck. Mammoth had a little bit better luck he had this one girl talking with him.

Richard was lying in bed when the phone rang. Turned on the light and picked his cell phone off the nightstand

Beep. "Hello?" he asked.

"Richard its Gar, listen we're having a party over at Tara's. We're doing this because you won the race. Come over, this party's for you man!" he said over the phone.

"I'm a little sore right now Garfield." He said.

"Dude I told you never to call me that." he says.

"Sorry, what time is it?" Richard asks.

"Bout 9:30, think you can come out?" he asked his friend.

"I think I can." He groans as he gets out of bed.

"But you better tell everyone to go easy on Me." he says.

"Oh right, yeah we saw what happened to you towards the end. So then you're coming?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'll see you guys in a little bit." He said standing by his closet.

"Cool, talk to you later man." Gar said and hung up the phone.

Rich did the same and put his phone on top his dresser. While Gar told everyone else that he was coming. Richard still feeling very sore from the race carefully puts his shirt on. Even though it's against his better judgment, he knew he should go. After all they're doing all of this because of him. 2 rough seasons and countless heartbreaks later he's finally made it. He's finally good enough to compete professionally. And this is his chance to celebrate. Barb saw him walk past her room, and immediately got up.

"You must be feeling better, where you off to?" she asked as thought she was interrogating him.

"The guys are having a party." He says.

"In the shape you in?" she said.

"I'm fine Babs." He says playing with the sleeve of his leather jacket he looks over his shoulder at her. "You can come with, if you want." He says.

"Yeah, I'll come. Keep you out of trouble." She says.

"Right, when have I gotten into trouble?" he asked.

She stands there hands on her hips and a big smirk on her face.

"Don't answer that." he said.

She smiled grabbing her jacket and they were out the door.

Back at the Wintergreen Estate, Slade's father was showing Kori the rest of the place.

"Everything's so big here." She says.

"This place could give Bruce Waynea run for his money." She says.

Wintergreen and Slade laugh at her remark.

"You're welcome to come up here anytime you wish." Wintergreen said to her.

She looks over her shoulder.

"Thanks." Brushing her hair back Slade smiles at the prospect.

A few minutes later Kori was ready to go home and together they left the estate in Slade's black Mercedes coupe.

"Your dad seems really nice." She says.

"Thanks. I'm sure he'd appreciate that. So all in all how do you think today turned out?" he asked.

"I liked it. I've never been to a BMX race before." She says.

"Motocross." He corrected.

"Huh?"

"BMX is with bicycles, Motocross is with motorcycles." He explained.

"Either way, I'm proud that Richard won his race." Resting her chin on her knees.

"Yeah, he did great today. He wanted it really bad." Slade says.

The black coupe raced down the country road.

"So how did you like the house?" he asked.

"I loved it; everything in it was so beautiful." She says.

The car went over a hill Slade took his hand from the steering wheel and placed it on top of Kori's hand. He gently squeezed her fingers. She noticed this while he continued driving. A second later his hand returned to the steering wheel. They arrive at Kori's house a few minutes later. Slade got out and got the door for her.

"Thanks." She says.

They walk up the sidewalk together, up the stairs and onto the front porch.

"I had a great time tonight Slade."

"Yeah me too."

"Well, good night Slade." She says sticks out her hand he looks down a bit surprised and shakes her hand.

"Good night." he says.

"I'll talk to you later." She says opening the door and closes it behind her.

"Bye." He softly says. Turns and walks away a bit disappointed but all things considered it was a pretty good date.

Richard's red Corvette was coming over the hill. Inside Dick and Babs were listening to Fallout Boy. They sang along with the song jamming and having fun.

"_We're going down, down in an earlier round. And sugar, we're going down swinging! I'll be your number one with a bullet…. loaded god complex. Cock it and pull it!" they face each other as they sang, "We're going down, down. (Down, down) Down, down! (Down, down) Down, down! (Down, down) Loaded God Complex, cock it and pull it!"_

They each made a gun with their hands and fired. The song ended laughing. Coming up the road they passed Slade's Mercedes. Richard honked at him, and he honked back as they went off in separate directions. They arrived at the party; you can hear _Lil Jon and The East Side Boyz "Get Low" _blasting from outside the house. They walk up the sidewalk. Two or three kids are outside drinking. They open the door people turn and see Dick walk in. they yell and cheer. One of his friends handed him a Bud, he takes it Babs walked in behind him. Friends gathered around congratulating him on his win. One of the girls walks up and gives him a kiss.

"Congratulations." She says.

"Thanks." He said.

Vic roughed Dick's hair. Gar walked up to him shook hands with him.

"Congratulations dude. You really earned it." He said.

"Thanks Gar."

Tara came up to him and wrapped her arms around him.

"You did great. I was so proud of you." She says sweetly.

"Thanks Tara." He said.

Later he was retelling them how he preformed the back flip off the super ramp in the race. Everybody had gathered around him on the couch.

"How did it feel when you were up there?" Vic asked.

"For a few seconds I felt weightless, like I was on top of the world. I could see the earth hovering above…or below me, I couldn't tell which. I saw the earth and sky trade places for what was only a couple seconds seemed like forever. The feeling up there was magnificent. As I saw myself descending back to earth I thought to myself "God, please don't let me crash. But I kept a clear ahead and before I knew it my front tire was back on the ground and I kept going. I was determined that nothing was going to stop me from winning the race."

He said as he rolled up his sleeve and showed them his left arm. A mesh of scratches marks and scabs ran down his forearm. A series of groans rang out, as part of them looked the other way.

Two blocks away Kori was sitting in her living room watching the replay of the race on SportsCenter. It's the first time she's ever watched the sports news program. He saw him do the back flip in the later half of the race. Her eyes dilated as she saw the instant replay. The reporter went on, but Kori didn't hear any of it. She then watched the replay of him being ground against the wall by Roy Harper she clasped her hand over her mouth as she watched. She had to look away tears dimmed her eyes. When she looked again, they were showing the final seconds of the race when Richard flew over the finish line barely beating Roy Harper. She smiles as she watched him win the race.

At the same time runner-up Roy Harper was watching the broadcast in nearby Jump City. With a beer in hand he sat in the easy chair, he hit the rewind trying to figure out just how Richard beat him. He watched the front tires of their bikes, studying it for a moment he took it off pause and it resumed play. He leaned back in his chair as he watched the rest of SportsCenter the blue glow of the screen filling the darkened room.

Back at the party Richard looked out the window of the house. Seeing most of his friends were by the pool he went out there. Kids were jumping in the pool, having a good time. One girl jumped in and a guy caught her and they both tumbled over in the water. Richard laughed at the sight. A beach ball floated by. Vic was at the grill cooking up hamburgers and lots of them. 8-10 of them all stacked up. (Drunken people eat a lot). He saw Tara and Gar standing close to him, he stole a couple burgers from Vic and gave one to Tara and Vic turned around and saw them with his hamburgers

"Yo!" Vic yelled.

They just laughed at him. Music played in the background. Flip picked up the beach ball and hit it to the other side of the pool, it landed in the center and three guys swam after the beach ball. _RUN DMC & Aerosmith's "Walk This Way"_ was playing and Vic is singing into the spatula.

"_And they tell me to walk this way! Talk this way! Walk this way! Talk this way!" _and sidestepping left to right while he was singing. They laugh as they watch him dance rockin the 'mic'

"Oh no, Vic watch out for the…" Gar tried to say.

"Whoa-oh!" _splash!_

"…Pool." Gar said.

He resurfaced gasping for air. He held the spatula in the air.

"Who wants an encore?" he asked.

Everyone laughs. Rich turns and sees Babs taking off her clothes.

"What are you doing?" he asked amusingly.

"Swimming." She said stripping down to her underwear.

"You wanna join me?" she asked.

He smiled "Sure."

And begun to take off his clothes he jumped into the pool with her in his boxers. They splash and play around the rest of the guys laugh as they watched them. Then Tara proceeded to take off her shirt and short and Gar soon joined her. Flip and Jenny join them in their drawers. Karen takes off her top to reveal a sky blue bra and jumps in there with them.

Before long the whole gang had jumped in the pool in their underwear. They got the giant beach ball to the center of the pool and it's on like Donkey Kong. It was every man and woman for himself as they tried getting the beach ball to the opposite end of the pool. People were getting dunked, kicked and occasionally getting the ball bounced off their heads. They were having fun like no one's ever seen. It was a blast; kids were screaming and laughing as they tackled the ball and each other.

A couple hours later they were seen leaving the party toweled off and back in their clothes. Richard and Barbara walked out the door with her arm across his back.

"See ya Monday." He said to Gar and the others.

"Yeah see ya dude." Gar said.

Rich got in his car and headed home. 2 am the radio clock read. Garfield yawned as he drove down the road. Dick and Babs got in the Corvette and they ventured home. Vic just lived up the street from Tara's house so Karen walked him home.


	6. Into the Night

_AN: Your going to love this chapter. Here is Chapter 6. "Into the Night" Enjoy._

The next day the house was a mess Tara wasn't exactly happy about that. Later that afternoon Gar came back and helped her clean up. By the time they were done the place was spotless which is good considering her parents would be home that evening.

"I cant thank you enough for helping Me." she said.

"No problem." he said.

"But I'm real sorry about the house." He said.

"Its no big deal, at least I had an exciting weekend with you." She said.

"By the way what did your parents say about you being gone all day?" she asked.

"My parents are workaholics." He says, looks at his watch. "Speaking of which my Dad should be home. I'll see you tomorrow." He says.

She walks up and hugs him they kiss each other.

"Bye." She says. "See ya Tara." He said to her.

Gar got home a few minutes later. Soon as he walked in the door there sat his dad in his easy chair. Dr. Mark Logan.

"Hey Dad, long day?" he asked.

"You have no idea…I've been on call for the past 46 hours." He said.

"Ouch." Gar said.

"You wanna go upstairs and lie down?"

"No…I think I'll just sit here and…." Before he could finish his sentence Dr. Logan drifted off to sleep.

"Poor guy." His son said softly.

He walked into the kitchen where he found his mom the lovely Mariah Logan.

"He fell asleep in his chair again?" she asked.

"Yeah."

She sighed "Well, lets him up to bed." She said drying off her hands.

"Sure." He said.

They pulled him out of his chair she grabbed his arms and he took his father's legs. A while later he was in bed, with the covers pulled up over him she closed the door.

"Those people are going to run him into the ground." she says to herself.

She walked downstairs where her son was.

"Why do those guys at the hospital have to work him so hard?" he asked.

"Its part of his job." She says.

"_Sigh. _Sometimes I wish he wasn't a doctor." Gar says.

"I know, but your father wants to help people. Its one of his qualities." She smiled at her son. "Something you have too."

He smiled back and blushed a bit. It is true. He does enjoy helping his friends especially Tara.

After sleeping away most of the afternoon, Richard came downstairs from his room. He ruffed his hair and went into the kitchen.

"Master Dick, you're up rather late." Alfred says.

"Yeah I know, sorry Alfred."

"Quite all right, a little extra sleep is good for the body; Heaven knows we don't get enough of that around here." He said not facing Dick.

"Have you spoken to that Kori girl?" he asked.

"Huh?" catching him off-guard.

"That young Anders girl you go to school with, have you talked to her?" Alfred inquired.

"Yeah, we saw each other at the race." He said.

"Such a lovely girl." He says.

"Yeah, I guess…why are you interested in her all of a sudden?" he asked, not sure what to make of the situation.

"Far be it from me to ask, but have you considered 'hanging out' with her more?" he asked the young ward.

"I…guess I could." Dick answered.

"Better hurry with your dinner sir, Master Bruce will be expecting you fore long." he said washing the dishes.

Dick continued eating his evening meal. Bruce was the living room watching the evening news on their wall-sized screen.

Dick walked into the room a few seconds later.

"Hey."

"Sleep well?" Bruce said half jokingly.

"So what's in the news tonight?" Rich asked.

"The same…" he said turning off the TV and turns to his 18 year old son with a smirk on his face.

"You ready to go to work?" he asked.

"Always." Rich says with the same smirk.

Bruce got out of his chair together they walked over to the grandfather clock, opening the glass door. Bruce turned the hands of the clock to Midnight there was a click and they walk on through. They swing down from their ropes, and drop to the floor below. The lights come on; Alfred walks in through the secret entrance in the wall as the Batcave comes to life.

"You know Alfred you should try the rope sometime." Rich joked.

"The elevator suits me, thank you very much." He answered with a smile.

Bruce walked over to the display case he pressed a button on the wall it slid back as fog rolls out and takes it from its case. Richard did the same and took his from the display case. As the fog covered the floor the two of them suited up. The black gauntlets, golden Utility Belt, the infamous cape and cowl; pulling the legendary mask over his face Bruce Wayne is Batman.

Putting on his green gloves, golden Utility Belt, black and yellow cape. And black eye mask Richard Grayson becomes Robin. They stood there side by side as the fog continued to roll. Almost instantly the alert went off he walked over to the council and activated the monitor. On the screen was Commissioner Gordon smoking a pipe.

"Batman, we got trouble The Joker's back in town and he's robbing the city blind."

"On our way." Batman said.

"Roger that Batman, I'm sending you the location now." He said as map appeared on screen.

"Roger, we'll see you there."

Jim nods and the screen went blank.

"Let's go Robin."

"Showtime." His partner said.

The Batmobile arose from the underground platform rotating in a circle when it was facing the forward position the canopy opened and they jump in. He hit the ignition setting it into Power Up Mode. The onboard electronic council glowed blue; the engine came to life, power coursing through it. The Batcave's exit opens as Alfred stands by. The jet engine ignites and with a mighty burst; take off into the night.

"Good luck young Masters." Alfred said as he watched them take off into the night.

The Batmobile flew down the road; with the tracking system engaged they set out to find the Joker. The accelerated beeping of the tracking system means only one thing.

"He's close." Batman said.

The Batmobile stopped in front of a warehouse. They got out, just as were about to go in, Joker came out with two armed men behind him, clowns in suits. Joker stood there with his arms behind his back.

"Oooh, fancy meetin' you here!" he said.

"Game's up Joker." Batman said.

"The game's just begun Batsy! Toast them!" he ordered.

The gunmen opened fire on Batman and Robin. They separate. Batman rolled and tossed a batarang Robin ran on the wall of a building and threw his birdarang. They each disarmed the gunmen they yell in pain one's met by Batman's fist while the other looked up and sees Robin's spinning kick headed straight for him. _Bam!_ They went down simultaneously. Joker looked up at the Dynamic Duo.

"Should have seen that coming… Huunh!" Batman grabbed him by the collar and lifted him off his feet.

Batman was blindsided by a stun gun blast and doubled over Joker kicked him in the chest down he went Robin was about to get the Joker when he too was struck by the blast. On the sidelines stood Harley Quinn with a smile on her pasty white face.

"Good work Harl." He said flashing a big yellow smile.

"Thanks Puddin'" she said as she walked towards him the gun in hand.

"How does it feel to be down for the count?" he said to the Dark Knight.

"I'd love to stick around but I got a ride to catch." He said.

A large purple vehicle come crashing through the brick wall behind them engine roaring. The giant antique car lands and screeches to a halt. The Joker smiles as he and Harley get in; the Dark Knight raised his head.

"What?" he said disoriented.

At that same time Robin raised his head.

"You got to be kidding me."

To their amazement a large purple Jokermobile stood in front of them, the clown arch criminal flashed his big toothy grin and sped off Batman got up and ran after him. But couldn't catch him, Robin got up and watched them speed off.

"Since when did he get wheels?" he said stunned.

Batman pressed a button on his belt a small light went off and the Batmobile rolled up beside them.

"Let's move."

They jump in, the rocket fires and the Batmobile speeds off after the chaotic clown crew.

The Jokermobile raced wildly through town, people in the street scream and get out of the way. The clown car smashed into a stack of crates full of fruit, the maniacal laughter filled the streets, Batmobile wasn't too far behind him as it whipped around the corner after them squashing the fruits, tires squeal losing traction for only a moment. Joker pressed a button on the dash as two rocket launchers rose from the rear fenders. A pair of missiles with sinister smiles, he fired them at the Batmobile, the onyx machine dodged the mortars as they exploded in the street. A missile launcher slid out the side of the left front fender of the Batmobile. He fired the bat rocket. It missed as the Jokermobile turned the corner and hit an abandoned building. Joker and Harley look back, and then forward as the building fell.

"Oooh, that could have been ugly" Joker said.

The Batmobile jumped the flaming debris. And continued pursuit. Harley looked back.

"_Gasp! _Puddin' they're still there!" she said.

"Not to worry, Harl. I've a got a something that will shake em off our tail. Joker Bombs, away!" he said pressing another button.

A stream of little red circus balls rolls out from under the Jokermobile and into the street. They explode all around the Batmobile and send it flying in the air. The Batmobile crashed on its roof and rolled over onto its tires. Joker let out his trademark cackle as he and Harley zoomed off into the night. Batman pounded the dash with his fist.

A few moments later they were long gone probably made it to the other side of town by now. A battered Batmobile rolled into the Batcave, as steam billowed from the vehicle. Alfred came down stairs alarmed he had never seen the Batmobile in such a condition.

"What happened?" he asked as they got out.

"Joker got away." Robin said.

"My word, terribly sorry about that." their butler said apologetically.

Batman saying nothing walked past Alfred, leaving him with the disgraced Batmobile.

Later that night Bruce was up late watching the news, talking about how Batman blew it. Bruce sat there sulking. Its one of the few times The Joker had ever beaten him Alfred came into the room.

"It really doesn't do one well to dwell on past mistakes." Alfred bravely said.

"True…." He said.

Alfred turned his attention to the big screen.

"Joker's latest getaway vehicle I presume?"

"He copied the Batmobile somehow." He said still in his persona.

The video showed the bombs going off beneath the Batmobile and the crash that followed.

Richard was up in bed, trying to forget about this evening. As his mind drifted off to sleep, his mentor's mind was stirring with thoughts of the Joker beating him.

"You'll get him next time, sir." Alfred said.

"I suggest you at least get in part of a night's sleep." Alfred said.

Bruce smiled.

"I shall see you in the morning sir. Good night."

The old butler climbed the stairs to his room. Bruce smiled at his old friend turned off the TV and turned in for the night.


	7. Bitter Rivalry

_Author's Note: Hey I'm back with our most exciting chapter yet. This is a story you wont soon forget. I hope you like it. The following chapter is rated T for violence. Please review at the end. _

Monday morning rolled around and students were back to class after a phenomenal weekend. Richard walked in through the double doors peers lined the hallways and applauded. People shook his hand and patted him on the back as he journeyed down the hall. The sounds of cheers and whistling rang out. Richard walked down the hall wearing a dark red shirt, jeans and leather jacket. He felt hands pound across his shoulders and back. Pretty girls lined the front to get a glimpse at him.

"I love you Richard Grayson!" one girl called out.

Kori stood in the background as she watched him pass. At the end of the hall was his friends; Vic, Gar, Slade and Rachel. They all laid their hands on him and congratulated him on his win.

"Congratulations."

"Thanks Rae."

He looked back and sees the students applauding him. He smiles, whoops and cheers ring out, as he looked onward.

A while later Rich was at his locker putting his things away. a guy was walking past him when he said.

"Great race Richard."

"Thanks."

"Congratulations Richard." Said a girl.

"Thanks."

"You were awesome dude!" said another guy.

"Thanks."

"Cool race."

Rich put his last book away and was about to close his locker.

"Good job." A girl told him.

"Thanks." He said not paying attention.

"Your welcome." She responded.

He closed his locker and saw Tara standing beside it.

"Tired of your adoring fans already?"

He smiled and shook his head "You kidding me?"

"Sure don't act like a champion."

Rich chuckled.

"Believe me… (shutting his locker) …I do."

"Well, I know you've heard it a million times already but I just wanted to say congratulations."

"Thanks Tara."

"Better get to class, see ya." She said walking off.

"Catch ya later Tara."

Going by Kori's locker he stopped and thought for a second about what Alfred said the other night. Figuring that it couldn't hurt He walked over to where she was and said hello.

"Hey."

She looked up.

"Oh, hey!" she said with a broad smile.

"Listen, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out after school, uh get a burger or something?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'd like that." she said.

"All right, cool. Uh how does Burger King sound?"

"Sounds all right."

"Great. I'll see you later then." He said and turned to walk off.

"Rich…" she called out he stopped and turned around.

"Thanks." She said.

"Sure thing, all right I'll catch ya later." He walks away.

"See ya." Closed her locker and quickly ran off to class.

It was Science class with Mr. Blud. Richard sat in the middle of the front row, looking bored resting his head in his hand.

"Today we have a new student, would you come in please?" the white haired teacher asked.

In walked a teen with red hair and green eyes.

"What?" Richard said.

He walked over to Mr. Blud.

"Class I would like to introduce Roy Harper. Roy is from Jump City and has transferred here to X."

At that precise moment he noticed Rich sitting in the front row. You'd think he was going to hit the ceiling.

(Unison for the next 3 lines)

"What are you doing here!"

"What am I doing here? This is my school!"

"Oh yeah? We'll see how long it takes till you're out of here!"

They gave each other the death stare. Blud came in-between and pushed them apart.

(Sarcastic) "So nice you two have already met. Mr. Harper if you would, kindly take your seat in the back…now!" he yelled.

Roy stepped back, takes his book bag and swings it over his shoulder hitting Richard in the back of the head.

"That's an automatic detention, Mr. Harper! 5 minutes after class."

Roy scoffs and walked to the back of the class.

Mr. Blud groans and walks to the front of the classroom to begin his lesson.

"Now then, today we are studying the human genome…" his voice trailed off.

Richard lowered his head and worked on something different. An hour later it was gym class. Today they're wrestling. Out on the mat a boy threw another boy down and placed him in a hold. Their coach slammed his hand against the mat.

"1…2…3!" he said.

The kid let go of his opponent and helped him up.

"Good job." The coach said checking his clipboard.

"Grayson your up!" he said.

Richard got up on the mat.

"Today your opponent is…"

The challenger stepped onto the mat.

"Harper!" Richard growled.

"Grayson…" acknowledges him.

"Stand in the center of the ring." Their coach said.

"Assume the position." He said.

They grappled their hands together.

"Ready, go!" he said and got off the mat.

At first they seemed to be dead locked their hands shook as they tried to overpower each other. Roy seemed to be gaining control at first but then Richard took it from him as Roy went down he put his feet to Richard's chest and flipped him, Richard tumbled over as he got up as Roy grabbed him by the shoulders. He grabbed his opponent's biceps but Roy threw him to the other side. Down on one knee he tackled Roy's midsection down he went. Rich had him pinned to the floor the coach dropped beside them and struck the mat with his fist once before Roy threw his shoulder up off the mat, Rich had to get off of him. Roy was on his feet and faced Rich. His peers were beginning to cheer Richard on. Roy grabbed Richard by his arms again and threw him hard Rich went flying and landed on his shoulder Roy charged him. Richard tumbled between his legs and grabbed him around the waist from behind, throwing his adversary off balance and hitting the back of his head against the mat the coach again hit the mat and began to count.

"1…2…"

But again Roy got one shoulder off the mat, but Richard isn't going to let him go. He kicked Richard in the face, Rich dropped back clutching his face. Roy grabbed him by the hair and punched him in the face.

"Aren't you going to stop him?" one of the students asked.

The coach chomped on a piece of gum.

"Nah, let 'em duke it out. Get it all out into the open." He said.

The student not believing what he heard looked on. Victor was in class with them as he continued to watch the match. Roy decked Richard again, he was down as Roy went to grab his hair again Richard delivered a jab to the stomach region Roy recoiled and retreated back a step. Richard got to his feet. Wiped the blood from his nose as he faced his archrival. Kori was on the other side of the gym in an Aerobic Fitness class; she turned and saw the match.

They charge each other and grapple in the center of the mat. They are equal in strength, each with a look of intensity in their eyes. Roy swings his right leg to knock Richard off balance. He drops to one knee, but still holding his own against Roy. He could feel his arms weaken as Roy had begun to overpower him. Roy kicked him in the chest.

"Hoooo-ooooh!" he groans and lost his grip doubling over.

Roy puts his arms around the middle of Richard's torso and lifted him up above his head Roy power bombed Richard. He groaned painfully after he hit the floor. Roy dropped down to his knees forcing Richard back onto his back holding Rich's leg the coach's hand pounded the floor.

"1…2…"

But Richard threw his arm up at the last minute and socked Roy right in the cheek. Rich tried to push Roy off himself. But Roy was determined to pin him and held down his right arm and left shoulder. Rich got his left leg free and kneed him in the middle of his chest.

"D'oooh!"

He groaned Rich trusted him off with his foot Richard got up by thrusting his legs back and used a handspring to get him to his feet like they do in the martial arts.

Roy was on his back; and got his feet clutching his chest.

"This is getting interesting. I'm taking this to Arena Mode." Their coach said and pressed a large red button at the bottom of his clipboard.

The mat rose several feet off the ground to reveal a wrestling ring. I told you this was no ordinary school! The two of them took off their shirts and got ready to fight.

"All right now guys, this is where you're allowed to cut loose so show us what you got." Coach said.

"Right." said Rich.

"Let's do it." said Roy.

The coach jumped onto the mat acting as referee.

"L-Let's get ready to Rum-ble!"

The students cheered. The two opponents bounce in place getting psyched up. The bell sounded. _ding- ding!_ Rich and Roy bounced around in place for a moment and then circled around the ring staring each other down, waiting for their chance to strike.

"No holding back right?" Rich asked.

"Just try not to kill each other." Their coach said half-jokingly.

He stood in the corner, their classmates had gathered up around the arena. Kori ran over to see the match. The rest of her class remained on their side of the gym watching.

"You girls going dance or fight? Come on, let's go!" their coach said.

They both hopped and pushed themselves back against the cables and come at each other. Roy stretched out his arm for a clothesline Richard tumbled past him and got to the other side of the ring Roy turned around and sees Richard in the crouched down position. He leapt to his feet. Ready to fight, Roy gritted his teeth as his ready to battle. He charged Rich and threw a flying kick, Rich spun around and thwacked him in the chest with the back of his forearm, knocking Roy off balance and onto the canvas Richard jump and landed over him, his legs on both sides of Roy. He drew back his fist. Roy kneed him in the groin, Rich doubled over in pain. Roy rose up punched him once in the face grabbing his shoulders, and using his legs thrust Richard up over his head and landed hard on his back. Roy got up and turned to face Rich. Rich still hadn't recovered still reeling from the hit to the groin. His chest and face still sore, he struggled to his feet Roy grabbed him by his throat. Chocking, Rich grabbed his opponent's wrist to break his grip Roy punched him again in his temple knocking him back down. How is he supposed to beat him, if he keeps fighting dirty? He saw an opportunity and swept Roy legs out from under him Rich sprang up and elbow dropped him across the back, Roy got up and was socked in the face knocking him flat on his back. Rich sat on his chest and slugged him once, twice, three times across the face. He kept beating him Roy raised up his right arm and decked him one across the cheek, but Richard wasn't shaken he continued pummeling his face.

Roy tried getting away from his punches, but he was trapped. With his opponent on top of him he had nowhere to go. Desperate to get out, he gouges Richard's eyes with his fingers and thumbs. Richard cried out in pain. Roy punched him in the jaw and got him off of him; he spun around and kicked Richard in the face. Spun and brought an Ax Kick down across his left shoulder which would have dislocated it. Richard groaned in pain, coach had to get in between them, giving Richard time to recover. This match has gone from WCW to UFC!

"I thought you said there were no rules." Roy said.

"I didn't say you can break his arm!" their coach yelled. "Now I'm warning you for the last time. Try that again, and there going to be hell to pay. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal." He answered.

Coach looked over his shoulder.

"Kid are you ok?" he asked.

Rich was down on one knee clutching his left shoulder.

"Can you finish?" he asked again.

Richard took a couple of deep breaths; he couldn't get out the words. But nodded his head slightly signaling 'yes'. Summoning the strength he had left Richard rose to his feet still cradling his shoulder. He turned and faced them, ready for one last round.

"I can call it off, if you aren't up to It." his coach said.

Rich took in a deep breath and let go of his afflicted shoulder.

"I'm fine." He answered.

Bending his arms outward to his sides, his shoulder popped slightly as it moved. He stared down Roy who was ready to fight.

"Let's finish this." Rich said.

"Right."

The coach said nodding his head, and begun to step back.

"On my signal!"

Richard assumed a Martial Artist's pose. Roy did the same. Students were cheering! Kori was down in front with Vic, cheering Richard on.

"Ready? Set…" whistle blows.

They ran into the center of the ring. Richard jumped up with a spinning heel, Roy dodged it twisting backwards and leaning on his back as Richard's leg swept above his face, Roy did a kind of break dance measure, twisting his legs around to balance himself landing on his hands, looking down at the canvas as Richard came out of his turn and ready to land on his one leg, Roy shifted his weight to his hands sweeping his outside left leg around to knock Richard's leg out from under him just as he was landing. Time sped up and Richard's on his back. Roy got up and elbow dropped him Richard rolled away to safety. The cheering resumed as time went back to normal. Rich was on his one knee, Roy sneered at him and cracked his knuckles. Richard got up ready to face him again.

They danced around the ring for a second, bobbing and bouncing on the mat. The cheering now louder than ever, they charged each other again, this time with fists flying. Richard jabbed with his right and missed then with his left; Roy blocked his left hand blow and got Richard right in the mouth. His head jerked back, with blood coming from his mouth Roy, grabbed Richard's wrist and spun around elbowing him in the face Rich grabbed Roy's entangled arm and with his right hand gave him one swift punch in the kidneys.

"Uuuuuuugh!"

Roy let out a long low bellow as the pain vibrated in his lower back. Richard punched him again this time in the center of his back and released him Roy fell face first to the ground. Richard dropped to his knees and flipped Roy over on his back, grabs his leg and pins him. The coach dropped down to the floor and began the count.

"1…2…"

But Roy threw up his left arm at the last minute, dazed His head spinning from the last blow. Roy's determined not to lose this one. After making a tough decision Rich let him up. He back flipped to the corner of the ring and Roy gets up the crowd is stunned by his decision.

"You had him!" Vic yelled.

Roy gets into fighting stance, having completely recovered from the kidney punch.

"You're a worthy opponent." Rich said.

"So are you." Roy replied.

"You ready!" Rich yelled.

"Give it your best shot!" Roy yelled.

"Let's treat them to a show, they won't forget." He thought.

"Come on!" Roy yelled.

Rich does a series a flips heading straight for Roy, he readied himself as best he could. He flips over Roy and landed behind him on the post Roy spun around surprised to see him there. He jumps off the turnbuckle and grabs Roy's shoulders. Flipping forward Rich picked Roy off the ground and used the Human Catapult on him. Roy was launched upside down by Richard and landed face first.

"Ooooh!" the crowd went.

Roy got up his mouth covered in blood. Wiping the blood off with his arm, he had a look of intensity in his eyes. Rich ran past him working up momentum was rebounding himself off the arena cables. Roy was up on his knees as Richard was coming toward him, using his right arm for defense. He launches Grayson head over heels and landed on his back. Roy's back on his feet and Richard gets up. Roy pushes himself against the cables and sends himself into Grayson. Rich drove his fist into Harper's face and knocks him back a couple steps. He kicked Roy in the jaw. The red headed teen's head jerked back his arms flailing.

"Grrrrrr, Why you. You'll pay for that!" He said painfully through his teeth.

Harper did a back flip and landed on the top turnbuckle. He looks over and sees Grayson on the opposite turnbuckle. They jump simultaneously, Roy flying headfirst. Richard flips in the air, feet first. When he came down he wrapped his legs around Harper's neck stopping Roy in mid-air. Richard then twisted his body with Roy in tow, and sends them spiraling to the ground.

BAM!

The arena shook with tremendous force. Gasps and screams of fright rang across the gym. There the two of them lay motionless. Roy was face down still in Richard's leg lock and Rich was spread eagle on his back. The coach quickly got to their side.

"Rich, Roy! Say something." He said to them, neither of them responded.

An eerie silence came over the gym. Richard let out a groan, relieving everyone in the room, Roy let out a soft groan too, and they both lost consciousness a moment later.

Richard opened his eyes, blurry dark things was all he could see. As his eyes adjusted to the light to noticed that he was home in bed. He was covered in bandages no doubt Alfred patched him up.

"Glad to see you're awake." Barb's voice as she walked over to his bed.

"How long was I out for?" he asked.

"About 3 days."

"3 days!" he said alarmed.

"I'm just joking you were only out for a couple hours." She said with a smile.

Richard sighed.

"From what I heard you really knocked the crap out of that other guy." She said.

"I did?"

"And how. You really gave it to him." she said.

Although Barbara doesn't go to the same school as Richard, word travels fast and got over here as soon as she could. She gazed upon him sweetly; Dick and Babs had been friends for 10 years and know each other inside out. She drew the covers up and kissed him lightly on the brow.

"Get some rest." She said.

"Ok."

Babs walked over to the door; she was wearing a light blue shirt that showed her bare back, and a pair of dark blue jeans. She looked back at him her curvy figure showing in the hallway light.

"I'll see you in a couple hours, ok?"

"Yeah." he said softly.

"Night." she said closing the door.

Over at the new Harper home in San Antholas' upper west side (12 blocks from school)

Roy was in bed recuperating, bandages were wound against his head, burses on his face and a black eye. Bruises on his chest, and band-aids on his chest and sides, he was sound asleep while his family was downstairs talking.

Richard slept for most the next day. Evening had come; Rich got out of bed and went downstairs.

"How are you feeling Master Dick?" Alfred asked.

"Better." He answered.

He went over to the fridge.

"Bruce here?"

"No, and I'd stay clear of him for a while if I were you. He's not too happy, with what happened yesterday." The butler said.

(_To himself) _"That so? Huh, why am I not surprised?".

"So what about Babs?" he asked.

"Miss Gordon isn't here. Shall I call her?" he asked.

"No, that's ok. I got it."

He quickly dialed up the phone, over at the Commissioner's house Barb's cell phone rings.

"Hello?"

"Hey Babs."

"Hey yourself, feeling better?"

"I'm doing well. Listen, would you come over tonight?" he asked.

"Oh nothing special. I was just figuring that we could ride around for a while. We haven't done that in ages." He said.

Barbara smiled. "I'd like that."

"Cool, see you over here in a little bit?"

"Yeah, I'll see you."

"Hey can you wear what you did last night?" he asked.

"Why?" she asked.

"Uh, no reason."

Barbara laughed, "Sure I'll wear it."

"Awesome."

"Bye." She said. "Bye." He repeated, closing her cell phone. "He is something else." She said to herself.

About a half hour later they met in the garage of Wayne Manor. Dick and Babs walked down the line of motorcycles.

"So what's it gonna be?" he asked.

She looked down the line and saw the one she wanted to take, a beautiful jade green bike, with magnificent chrome underside. Rich picked out his bike for the evening and chosen a navy blue motorcycle with black on it. Richard put on his leather jacket and gloves. Barbara grabbed her helmet. They rode their bikes out and down the winding road. Dick on his blue motorcycle and Babs on her green motorcycle rode off into the night, enjoying a nice peaceful ride down the highway.

They raced each other down the highway. Babs was in the lead for a long while and then Dick caught up and passed her. She revved her motorcycle to catch up with him. She passed him again at one point, he chuckled as he watched her go by they're not competing, not this time anyway. He smiled as he saw her wearing the same shirt from last night the one that showed her back. A twist of the gas handle and he caught up to her he looked over at her, and smiled Barbara looked back at him. A giant full moon hung in the sky giving off a lavender glow; nothing like a ride at night, especially when it's with an old friend. With the city over the next horizon, they rode down the long hill and into Gotham City.

_Please Review._


	8. The New Crew

_Author's Note: Chapter 8 is up, kind of a continuation of what happened in the last chapter. As a new group of students are introduced, ones that have likely never been seen before in a high school story, I hope you like it and please review at the end._

5:30 in the morning, they returned home, they rolled their bikes in and parked them, resting their helmets on the bikes they were about to head upstairs.

"A little late getting in?" Bruce asked.

The two see him standing at the top of the stairs in his Batman costume, his mask off and his arms crossed. Dick and Barbara stood there, looking down.

"Seeing that you were out all night, its safe to say your well enough to go to school."

"You have 3 hours to get ready. And Barb….I strongly suggest that you get home before Jim notices again."

"Uh, right." She softly said.

"See ya later, Dick." She said.

"Later, Babs. And Thanks." He said.

"Sure thing."

Barbara made her way up stairs.

"Alfred will take you home." He said as she walks past him.

He turns and looks down at Dick.

"_sighs_, I'll get ready for school." He said in defeated tone as he made his way up the stairs.

Meanwhile a black Beemer (BMW) pulled up to the curb in front of the Gordon home, Barb got out of the car, thanked Alfred for the ride and he silently drove off. Once he was out of sight. She had begun to climb the trellis. (The wooden thing on the side of a house that ivy grows on) She climbed the trellis all the way up to her bedroom window, fortunately for her. It's still dark out so no-one can see her climbing the house. Opening her window she crawled in and shut it behind her then she climbed into bed, changed out of her clothes beneath her covers and went to sleep.

A couple of hours later it was time for school, Richard had just pulled in. shutting off the engine he gets out, takes his bag out and goes to class. Barb was in bed still asleep, when her Dad's voice broke the silence.

"Barb, get up! You're late for school."

Her eyes shot open, and sat up in bed, she rubs her eyes.

"Thank God, _he_ went to bed." She said to herself.

Quickly putting on some new clothes, she hurried down stairs grabbing her bag.

"Bye Dad!"

She gives him a kiss on the cheek. He spun around and watched her run out the door before he can say a word. Barbara jumped in her car, a brand new hot-off-the-lot 2007 Saturn Sky roadster. It was black, and the funny thing about it. Is that it looks like a Chevy Camero in the front and the '66 Batmobile in the back. Babs made a B-Line for San Antholas High across town. Parking her car she heads straight for class.

Back at Xavier High Rich was walking to his next class. As he walked down the hallway students welcomed him back. As he passed the girls' lockers Kori popped up.

"Richard?"

"Huh?" he turns around "Oh, hey."

She closed her locker and walked up to him.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm doing good, doing real good." He said.

Kori stood there, not saying anything.

"What?" he asked.

She still didn't answer. She wasn't mad, just standing there suggesting that he forgot something. And then it hit him.

"Oh my God." He said feeling terrible.

"You remember now?"

"Yeah, listen I'm real sorry. I hadn't counted on running into him." He said.

"It's all right." She said.

"Well, is there anyway I can make it up to you?"

"Well, you can come to my place tonight and meet my dad." She offered. His face fell.

"Meet you're what?"

"My Dad, he'd love to meet you."

"I bet he would." He said under his breath.

"Come on, Rich." She pleaded.

"Aaaaaah…." He went.

"Ritchie." She pouted.

"A-all right, all right. I'll meet your dad." He said holding out his hands.

"Great." She said.

"I hate it when you call me that."

"You can come by at 7."

"Yeah, sure. I'll see you then, Rich." She turned and walks away.

"What have I gotten myself into?"

The bell rang and Richard was in his Second Period class with Mr. Blud.

"First off I would like to welcome back Mr. Grayson, on his speedy recovery from Monday's wrestling incident. I'm afraid that Mr. Harper will be out for a couple more days. Maybe next time, you'll take it easy on each other. Today class we will be concluding our study of the Human Genome, but first we have some more new students from over seas. Would you come in please?" Mr. Blud asked.

The door opened, Richard raised his head. Four students walked into the classroom.

"These are our new foreign exchange students. Would you kindly introduce yourselves to the class?"

The first one stepped forward a Punk-Emo chick with red and black hair and wearing a black dress.

"I'm Argent, I'm from New Zealand." She said.

"Ms. Argent." Blud nodded.

The second girl stepped forward she had pink hair, wearing a blue and white baseball shirt and jean skirt.

"My name's Kole Weathers, this is my friend Ga'narrk. And we're from Greenland."

"Ga'naark." He grunted.

Ga'naark was wearing a brown and white layered shirt and jeans and had scraggly black hair.

"Ms. Weathers, Mr. …Nark." Blud said.

And then finally the last one stepped forward a boy wearing a dark green t shirt with a red star on it and black pants. He had red hair and green eyes.

"My name is Leonid Kovar and I am from Russia." He said.

"Mr. Kovar." Mr. Blud said. The class welcomed the new students.

One floor up, Kori was in her Home-Ec class with Mrs. May-Eye. They were making cakes. In the next room Raven was in sewing class with another teacher. Two floors down, on the first floor Gar and Tara were in English class with Dr. Light. And in the next building, in the Mech class, Victor and a team of students were repairing a car with beatnik bad boy, Ding Dong Daddy as their teacher.

3 hours passed and it was lunch time. The students sat outside in the shade trees. The foreign students seemed to fit in real well, all except for one. Leonid Kovar sat by himself at a far away table. The seven friends were sitting at another table, talking about the Russian kid.

"He hasn't said a word since Blud's class." Richard said.

"He seems like a real shy kid." Slade said.

"We should go over there and talk with him." Raven said.

"I don't think that's such a great idea. We don't want him to feel anxious, by all of us being there." Tara said.

Kori got up not saying a word and went over to him which surprised her friends. She stood in front of him,

"Mind if I join you?" she asked.

"You are… welcome if you wish. I would like that." He said smiling.

She smiled and sat down across from him.

"My name is Kori, what's yours?"

"I am Leonid Kovar. I am…from St. Petersburg, Russia." He said.

"I grew up here in San Antholas." She said.

Leonid smiled.

Across the lawn Victor walked over to where the new girl Kole was sitting.

"Hi, I'm Victor." He said offering his hand; she shakes it.

"Hey I'm Kole."

"Ga'naark."

"Oh, sorry this is my best friend Ga'narrk."

"Hey Nark!"

"It's Ga'narrk." She corrected.

"Ga'narrk." Vic said holding out his hand. Ga'narrk squeezes Vic's hand, bones crunching as he tightened his grip, Vic returns the gesture by squeezing his hand as hard as possible. You can hear both of their hands cracking, this continued on for several more seconds.

It didn't take Kori and Leonid long before they became friends when she brought her friends over to meet him.

"Leonid, I want you to meet my friends these are. Richard Grayson, Slade Wilson, Raven, Gar Logan, and Tara Markov."

His ears perked when he heard Tara's name.

"Your name is Russian also?" he asked.

"Huh?" went the guys.

"Uh, yeah." she said an embarrassed.

Leonid chuckled. It was the first time they heard him laugh.

Back on the other side things have settled down between Vic and Ga'narrk.

"I thought Greenland was green and Iceland had ice." Vic said.

"You would think that, but it's the other way around. Greenland is ice and Iceland is green. But I can tell you of one place, deep beneath the surface that is green. An entire world exists beneath the frozen wasteland of our country." Kole said.

"You're serious?"

"We live down there. But that's our little secret." She tells him.

"Course." He said.

"Hey you want to meet the rest of my friends?" he asked.

"Yeah I'd love too!" she said Vic smiled. "

Ga'narrk are you coming?" she asked.

"Ga'narrk, Ga'narrk."

"You sure?" she asked.

"Ga'narrk." He answered.

"What did he say?" Vic asked.

"He said He'll meet up with your friends later." She said.

"He said all of that?" he asked amazed, Kole laughed at this and got up.

"Come on, I'll see you later Ga'narrk!" she said as she went off with Vic.

"Ga'narrk." He said softly. He crossed his arms and watched other students.

Vic and Kole walk across the lawn to where the rest of his friends were sitting with Leonid.

"Guys I want you to meet Kole Weathers. She's the new foreign exchange student from Greenland." He introduced.

The group greeted her; Kole turned her attention to the black-haired member of the group.

"Hey you were in class this morning." She said.

"Yeah, I'm Richard." He stood up and shakes hands with her.

"Hi." She said.

"This is Kori, Raven, Gar, Slade, and Tara. And you've probably already met Leonid." Rich said.

"Hello." Leonid said as he reached out his hand.

"We kinda met." She said.

"What happened to that guy you were with?" Rich asked.

She pointed. "He's over there. He doesn't like people that much."

"Well, can you bring him over here?" Rich asked.

"I can try." Kole said.

She ran back across the lawn to her friend, who was sitting at the same picnic table underneath the shade tree.

"Hey, the guys over there wanted to talk to you." She said cheerfully.

"_sigh, I don't know Kole."_ He said.

"Come on, it will be fun." She said.

"Ga'narrk, "Ga'narrk, Ga'narrk, Ga'nark, Ga'nark."

(Translation) "_It's just that, I don't fit in well with moderns. I can already tell they don't like me."_

"That's not true. The black-haired boy in class said that he wanted to talk to you." She said.

"_He did?"_

"Yeah you're not the only one here that's different Ga'narrk. Everybody is. Just look around." She said.

Ga'narrk took notice of how vastly different all students here were. He didn't see anyone here that looked normal.

"_Maybe this will be different." _

"Come on, let's go meet our friends." She said wrapping her small hands around his massive arm.

"Thanks Kole." He spoke in his gruff voice.

"Your welcome." She whispered.

"_But I still don't like that Vic guy."_ He said.

Kole laughed.

Later, she brought him back to the group. She held his arm as they walked up to them.

"Guys this is Ga'narrk." She said.

"Hey Ga'narrk." Richard said.

This time Kole introduced the group to Ga'narrk.

"We were wondering if you'd want to come play football with us in the park tomorrow. We can use another player." Richard said.

Ga'narrk tapped the fang on his black bead necklace.

"I'd love to play." He said.

Richard and Vic were a bit taken back that he spoke English,

"His necklace is a translator. My Dad made it for him." Kole said.

"Cool. So can you make it out there by five?" he asked.

"Sure." He said. Kole smiled. The school bell rang and it was time for class.

_Author's Note: Suprised? I hope you liked seeing these new characters in the story, if you do then review. _

_Green Gallant_


	9. Tara's Family

_Author's Note: All right, here we are at Chapter 9. I just want to say that I'm excited that I'm finally getting up to the later chapter. You'll find this one to be pretty amusing. Its short, but sweet and to the point. I want to thank Ziren for encouraging me to post the next chapter as I'm sure all of you would like to see what happens next. I hope you enjoy it and **please review** at the end chapter 10 will be coming real soon. _

_The Green Gallant. _

3 o clock bell rang, School's out! Students rushed out the double doors. Richard got into his Vette and raced off. Vic got into his silver F-150 and drove off. Gar jumped in his Grand-Am and took off. Kori got into hers and headed out. Her car jerked, and started acting up and she tried to leave the school. Cars were lining up behind the purple Pontiac and started honking at her; she managed to get the car into gear and drove down the road.

"Oh, this thing's a piece of junk." She said to herself as she drove.

The odometer was reading 192,000 miles. No telling how much longer this car is going to last.

Raven drove home in her old truck a dark blue '92 Dodge Dakota Sport. How she hated the thing, but it was the only car she had. Tara was coming home in her '99 black Mustang. It was a special 35th Anniversary Edition Mustang. She pulled into the drive, and got her bag out of the back seat. Walking up to the door she digs around in her pocket for her key and opens the door.

"I'm home!"

She walked from the mud room and into the kitchen area when she sees a young man sitting at the table.

"Hey squirt!" he said.

"Bryan!"

She exclaimed dropping her back she squealed and ran into his arms. Bryan laughs picking her up.

"Your home from school?" she said.

"Yep, I get two weeks off!" he said happily as he set her back down.

Meet Bryan Markov, Tara's older brother.

Age: 24 Senior at the University of Southern California.

Business Major, will be graduating from USC this year.

He runs a successful tavern _"Gaia" _in downtown San Diego, his college town. Bryan stands about 6'5 with blond spiky hair, styled forward. Blue eyes, athletic build played Trojans football all four years. He wears a green bandana tied around his head, a black T- shirt, brown vest, fingerless gloves and cargo shorts.

"Oh, it's good to have you home!" Tara said.

At that same time another person walked into the room.

"I thought that was you." He said.

Bryan looked over his shoulder in his chair.

"Hey bro."

"Bryan, it's been a while."

"Greg, Bryan's home for 2 weeks isn't that cool?" Tara said.

"Fantastic." lips dripping with sarcasm.

Gregory Markov, Tara and Bryan's eldest brother.

Age: 35 president of Markovia Investments, Inc.

Since the time of their parents deaths in the late 90's Greg has been Tara's legal guardian. He's been a good father to her. Greg inherited the company from his father, a couple years before his death. To this day, it remains one of the most successful financial firms in the city. Greg has very short blond hair and always wears a suit. Hard working and goal oriented.

A beautiful young woman walked into the kitchen.

"Hello Tara, Bryan, what a pleasant surprise." She said sweetly.

"Hello Clarissa." Bryan greeted.

"Uncle Bryan!" a little girl came running into the room with a toy riding horse in hand.

"Hey kiddo!"

He scooped her up in his arms.

"Yea Your home early!" she said happily.

This is Greg's family. His wife Clarissa and their daughter Tawny age 6. As you would have guessed it there all blonde Tawny had her mother's curly hair. She's full of energy and cute as a button.

Over at Richard's house he was on-line with his friends Vic and Gar carrying on conversation with their web-cams.

"So I'm going to meet Kori's dad tonight. Any suggestions?" he asked his friends.

"Kori's dad!" Vic said.

"Oh, dude." Gar said.

"I've known Kor for years and I never met him." Dick said worriedly.

Vic and Gar look at him on screen. Their screens turn and face each other,

"Isn't he like 8 feet tall or something?" Gar asked.

Vic and Rich look at him.

"What? I haven't met him either." He admitted.

"Well, I've only seen him one time. And man, that dude's a mean mofo, big as they come." Vic said.

"How tall?" Dick asked.

"He's a little over 7 feet tall, bigger than I am dude." Vic said.

(Sarcastic) "Great. That's nice to know."

"Do you know anything else about him?" Gar asked as his vid screen floated across.

"He was in some war, I can't remember if it was Vietnam or someplace else." Vic said.

"Know how many kills he has?" Gar asked as his screen continued to float.

"With those pythons, he could have killed them all by hand. The only other thing I know is that he's protective of his daughters." Vic said.

"That's right, Kori has an older sister." Gar said.

"This makes things worse for me. So how am I going to impress him?" Rich asked.

"Just play it cool man, and relax I'm just messing with ya." Vic said.

Richard sighed in relief.

"He's a real cool guy, he's big but he ain't too big and besides he's a Pastor at that Church down the street. Just go out there tonight and do your thing. Believe me; no guy likes meet a girl's dad." Vic finished.

"Thanks. And Vic….I is seriously going get you for this." Rich said pointing at the screen.

"Yeah? Bring it on Moto Man." Vic smiled.

"Oh, I will." He answered.

"Good luck, Rich!" Gar said.

"Thanks." Rich replied.

"Yeah man, good luck. You'll need it." Vic said.

"See ya." Rich said signing off.

"Later dudes!" Gar said as he signed off.

Vic signed off last.


	10. Meet the Father

_An: Ok, so Richard's about to meet Kori's father for the first time. I hope that you guys like this, believe me the story gets better from here on. I'm especially excited about the next chapter, but I cant say anything about that right now. So, if you like this chapter then please review when your done. _

After Richard had signed off of his web cam he thought a little big about what Vic told him. He walked over to his closet.

"Let's see if there's anything good to wear."

For guys most times we don't care what we wear. Just a pair of jeans and a t-shirt will do. But when you're trying to impress someone, then you get out your good clothes. Taking a green button up shirt and a pair of black dress pants from the closet he changes his clothes in a couple minutes, combing his hair back. He takes a look at himself in the mirror. Grabs a pair of blue lens sunglasses from the dresser and puts them on. He hurries downstairs and walks past Alfred.

"Going out sir?" His butler asked.

"Yeah, I'll be back in a while Alfred." The boy said.

"Have a pleasant evening Master Dick." Alfred said.

"Let's hope." Dick said beneath his breath. I

n the garage he feels like driving something different tonight.

He turns to the red vintage 1964 ½ Ford Mustang. Pressing a button the key slides across the room on a wire and drops into his hand, unlocking the door he gets in and with a turn of the key the engine came alive.

Rum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum. Vroom, vroom! Vroooooom!

As he pressed down on the gas revving the engine a couple more times, he put it in gear. Might as well get this over with. He pulls out of the garage and down the long winding drive. When he got onto the main road he peels out. Smoke pours from the tires as he sped off into the evening. The engine roared as he raced down the road, in a blur. Twisting and turning through hills and curves. Coming over the last hill, and punches it straight up to 100 mph.

A while later he was in Kori's neighborhood. The Mustang pulled into the drive. And he shut the engine off. A curtain was pulled back the figure stood by the window; the figure soon let the curtain go. Richard sat in his car, his hands still held firm the steering wheel. His heart beating harder in his chest, he started to feel hot and tingly.

"All right, come on Rich you can do this; you've faced bad guys threatening to blow up the city before, you can handle a little thing like Kori's Dad." He said trying to build up his nerve.

"Yeah." He said opening his car door. He gets out and shuts it.

Leaving the sanctity of his car, he made his way up the sidewalk walked up the porch and rings the doorbell before he can hesitate. Kori opens the door.

"Rich."

"Hey Kor."

"Would you come in?" she asked.

"Yeah." He said removing his sunglasses, inside the house was dark.

"He's in here."

"_Here we go."_ He thought.

They walk into an even darker room and see a pair of eyes looking at him from an easy chair. Richard swallowed the lump in his throat as Kori takes him over to meet him.

"Dad, I would like you to meet Richard Grayson, he's my friend from school." She said.

"You are the motocross racer, my daughter told me about?" he asked still sitting in the shadows.

"Uh, yes?" Rich answered.

"_Oh, man. Why did she tell him that?" _he thought.

Now he knew he was in trouble.

"Tell me, why do you race?" her Father asked.

"Uh…"

He looked for an answer, what was he suppose to tell him? Kori glanced first at Richard then at her father; Richard folded his arms and looked away.

"I'm waiting." Her father said.

"Because I've been racing since I was 7. I turned pro when I was 16." He answered.

"Go on," Mr. Anders said.

"And…I want to make it to the X Games someday." Richard said.

Mr. Anders leaned forward in his chair and rested his elbows on his knees with his fingers laced together beneath his chin.

"And you're sure that this is what you want to do." He said.

"Yes, sir since I was 13." Richard said.

"How old are you son?" he asked.

"Eighteen." He said.

"It's good to have dreams." Mr. Anders finally said.

Richard breathed in relief. When Mr. Anders stood up he towered over Rich. But he wasn't afraid of him. The lights came on, seeing her father for the first time.

He stood 7'1" had large arms and chest. He was an older man, bald. With a long red beard, he had long red hair in the back that went down to his shoulders. Mr. Anders stood one foot taller than Richard. The old man smiled and extended his hand.

"My name's Pastor Galfore Anders, happy to make your acquaintance." He said.

"Pleased to meet you." Rich said positively shaking his hand.

Pastor smiled, Rich smiled back.

"Why don't you meet the rest of the family" he asked.

"Sure." Rich said.

He turned to his daughter.

"Kori would you get the others?" he kindly asked.

"Yeah." She said.

A moment later they walked downstairs, Richard and Galfore stand at the foot of the staircase. A beautiful girl with long black hair and a boy with short red hair descended the stairs. They both resembled Kori.

"Rich this is my sister Cameron." Kori said.

"Call me Cami." She smiled.

"Hi, Cami." He said.

"And my little brother Ryan." She said.

"Hey dude! What's up?" Ryan said.

He bumped fists with Richard.

"Ryan." He said.

"And this is my friend, Richard Grayson." Kori introduced to them.

Cami is 19, she graduated from X last year and is currently taking a year off from school before going off to college. Cami was wearing a silver tank top and a black shirt jacket with black jeans. Ryan is 12, is in 8th grade. With his bright red hair and green eyes and a messy hairstyle. He had on a dark green t-shirt with the yellow monogram of a BMX rider. And had on a pair of jean shorts.

"I got a Mustang outside, you guys want to see?" Richard asked.

"Yeah!" Ryan said.

And ran down stairs and out the door.

"Kid's fast." Richard says.

"You have no idea." Galfor said.

The rest of them went outside and walked over to the car.

"64 Mustang." Galfor said.

"Year One Pony one of the first ones ever made." Rich said proudly.

The four Anders walked around the muscle car.

"Got a 289?" Galfor asked. "No, 302." Rich said. Both are measurements of the size of an engine in cubic inches.

"Cute car." Cami said.

"A car's not cute!" Ryan said.

"You tell her." Richard said.

"Whatever, I still think it's cute." Cami said.

Rich walked over to Kori.

"So what do you think of it?" he asked.

"It's very nice." She said.

"Would you like to take a ride in it?" he asked softly.

She looked at him.

"You mean it?"

"If your Dad's ok with it." He said.

Kori turned and looked at him.

"Daddy?"

"Hmm?" he said looking up from the car.

Richard stepped forward.

"I was wondering if I can take Kori out for a ride?" he requested.

"As long as you're careful." Galfore said.

"Don't worry, she's safe with me." He said.

The old Pastor smiled.

"All right." He said.

"Your coming back to take me, aren't ya?" Cami asked.

"Yeah, and me!" Ryan added.

"Ha ha, sure I got time for all of you." He said.

A few minutes later Kori and Rich were racing down the country road.

"So how do you like the ride?" he asked.

"Its great." She answered.

He shifted into higher gear as they continued cross country. Kori smiled at him as she saw the look on his face while he drove. He began to speed up taking it up to 80 miles per hour. Kori looked down and saw his hand on the stick shift. Kori laid her hand on top of his; he looked over at her and smiled. She smiled back. The 'Stang raced down the road, Kori helps Rich shift down. As they went around one corner, then up and to the right allowing the Mustang to speed up, the engine raced as the speedometer climbed to 95, them 100 mph. they were pulled back in their seats by the sheer force of speed.

"I love this car." Kori said.

Richard smiled as he continued driving. They swung into one curve and lean into the turn, and smiled. Then coming into an opposite turn and lean the other way.

A while later the Mustang came to a stop close to a ridge. Rich and Kori unbuckled their belts and got out of the car. They walk up to the edge, Rich sits down on the ledge.

"It's beautiful out here." Kori said sitting down next to him.

"I like to come out here once in a while." He said.

"Richard can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Do you think that Slade…" she begin to say.

"Hmm?"

"Well, it's just that…you and him are best friends. And I don't want to come between you." She says.

"Just so you know Slade came to me first asking if he could ask you out." He frowned lowering his head.

"All though…I haven't been too good of a friend." He said.

He got up off the ground.

"I should probably call Slade; let him know what's up." He said as he walked away from her.

She looked back at him; a worried expression was on her face.

Getting far away from Kori he takes out his cell phone trying to think of what he can say to him. He turns and leans against a rock wall. He looks down at his cell phone. Thinking he knew what he'd say. But he couldn't do it; instead he put his cell phone away. He bowed his head and sighed.

"I can't do this to him." He said.

Upon raising his head he saw Kori walking towards him and groans.

"I couldn't call him." he said turning his head away from Kori.

"We should probably be getting back. It's getting late." He said.

She nodded.

"_I should never have brought that up."_ She thought.

"_I'm going to have to get things straightened out. Whether I want to or not."_ Richard thought.

As they walk back to the car, Kori takes a hold of his hand. He smiles at her. She smiled back at him. At least now, they have some comfort.

They pull into Kori's driveway a few minutes later.

"I want to thank you for coming out here tonight." She said.

"Hey it's not a problem." Rich said.

"No really, it meant a lot."

Kori again placed her hand over his. He smiled at her.

"I'm so happy to have you as a friend."

She gently stroked the back of hand with her thumb.

"And I'm happy to have known you as a friend." He said smiling.

They leaned forward and wrapped their arms around each other, breathing in her sent. Kori rubbed Rich's back. He ran his fingers through her long hair.

"Thanks for the ride." She says.

"Your welcome." He said.

They break their embrace.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Kori said.

"Yeah, see ya." He said.

They hug each other one last time.

"Good night." She said resting her forehead against his.

"See ya." He says.

She gets out of the car. After shutting the door he started up the engine, she got up to the front door and waved. Richard waved back and backed out of the drive, pulling into the street and taking off. Kori went inside once he left.

20 minutes later the Mustang pulled into the Wayne Garage, driving down a row of cars he finds the Mustang's proper parking space and turned in. he shuts off the engine and got out of the car. When he gets to the door he places the keys to the Mustang on a very small wall mounted counter, pressing a button a small portion of the wall spun around taking the keys with it. A machine engine whirred as it took the key, the wall then spun back around with the counter facing outward. The keys are returned to their designated place.

A couple of minutes later Rich was in his room he changed into some everyday clothes and takes out his cell phone dialing Slade's number. Over at the Wintergreen Mansion, Slade was watching TV in the den, his cell phone buzzed on the table next to him.

_Beep_ "Hello?" Slade said.

"Hey Slade, do want to race with us tomorrow morning?" Richard asked.

Yeah, sure." His best friend said.

"Think you got something fast enough?" Rich asked.

Slade grinned.

"I'm sure I have something."

He looked out the window at his black Mercedes-Benz SLK 320 sports coupe sitting in the driveway.

"Great, so we'll see you out there at 7:30." Richard said.

"Cool, so anything else you want to say?" Slade asked.

Dick's heart jumped as he thinks about Kori.

"Uh no. That's about it. Uh, see you tomorrow." Richard said.

A funny look came to Slade's face as he looked at his phone.

"All right." He said.

"See ya." Richard said.

"Later."

Slade and hung up on him. Thought nothing else of it and put his phone on the night table.

At the Logan household, Gar was in his bedroom checking last minute emails when one suddenly popped up.

"It's from Tara." He said clicking on it.

_From: Earthfire16_

_Subject: Hey Gar!_

_To: Garzfutzinwild_

_Message: "Hey Gar! You want to come with me to the Giants game tomorrow?"_

He smiled as he replied to the message and clicked send. Leaning back in his chair his arms crossed. In an instant the next message appeared.

_Earthfire 16:"Great! My brother's taking us so you'll finally get to meet him!" _

He lost his balance and fell out of his chair backwards.

"Ahhhhh!" _Thud!_

He got back up to his desk and typed.

_Garzfutzinwild:_ _"Your brother?"_

A minute later she wrote back.

_Earthfire 16:"Guess I never told you about him, huh?" _

_Garzfutzingwild: "Let's just say you caught me off guard." _

_Earthfire 16:"Sorry. So…are you still coming?" _

Tara waited for the answer.

_Garzfutzingwild: "Yeah, what time?"_

A broad smile graced her face

_Earthfire 16:"Stop by my locker after 2nd period." _

_Garzfutzingwild: "Awesome. But can't we meet before 2nd Period? Light is such a lame teacher."_

Tara let out a giggle after she read the message. _"Lol. Yeah, I guess. But you know how he is. Even if he is the worst teacher, He'll notice that we're gone." _

_Garzfutzingwild: "Screw him. I never liked him anyway."_

_Earthfire 16_ _"Why don't we just call in sick?" _

It took a few minutes later for him to reply.

_Garzfutzingwild: "Works for me." _

Tara types in her last message. _"Cool, I'll pick you up around 11."_

_Garzfutzingwild:_ _"I'll see you then. I love you." _

_Earthfire 16:_"_I luv u 2." _

The two of them signed off and went to bed.

"D'oh! I didn't ask her who they're playing!" Gar said aloud.

A few hours later daylight was peeking over the city of San Antholas. Its yellow beams shined into Kori's bedroom. She left out a soft moan as its rays touched her face. She turned over on her left side still asleep. The dawning light warmed Kori's face. She woke up and stretched, and yawned. She sat up in bed wiping the sleep from her eyes she looked at her alarm clock read 5:30. She decides to get up removing her covers. She walks across her room in a purple silk nightgown. Walking down the hallway. Cami slept peacefully in her room; an entire black theme reigned throughout. A black canopy bed, black blankets and pillows, underneath was a tan skinned beauty with long silky hair wearing a black lace nightgown. The bedroom is so beautiful, safe to say what Cami's favorite color is.

Kori looked out the hallway window and smiled as daylight filled the city in the distance. The early morning looked beautiful. A few minutes later Kori walked to the bathroom at the end of the hall to take her morning shower. Turning on the radio that sat in the corner she tuned it to her favorite station.

_DJ #1_: "Good morning good morning San Antholas! I'm Steve.'"

_DJ #2: _"And I'm Jerry.'"

_DJ #1:_ "And you're listening to the _AM Party_, right here on San Antholas' favorite place to rock. 105.5 KZXA, '_The Wave._'"

The rock music continued to play while she continued to shower. Steam filling the room, while she listened to her favorite songs and the deejays telling the occasional funny story, she stepped out of the shower and dried her auburn hair, taking a robe off the hook she wrapped it around herself, turned off the radio and went back to her room. Once she got back to her room. She turned on the TV. She let her robe drop to the floor; she went over to the dresser taking out certain articles of clothing. She then walked over to the closet and picked out the clothes she wanted to wear for the day. A pair of jeans and an orange t-shirt, 6am the alarm clock read as she lied down on the bed to watch TV. About a half hour later Cami got up and repeated her sister's routine. Cami came out of her room, wearing a gray long sleeved shirt with black lettering and a pair of jean shorts. Galfore met his daughters down in the kitchen and as usual Ryan is still asleep. And per usual, Galfore pounded on his son's door for the third time telling him to get up. Ryan turned over in bed ignoring him.

"All right, I'm coming in." his Dad said.

And opened the door he walked over to his son's bed, hands on his hips.

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

He bent down and flipped the mattress. His son yelped as he fell out of bed and landed on the floor wearing just his boxers and a t-shirt. He pushed his red hair out of his eyes and looked at his Dad

"What did you do that for!" he demanded.

"I told you. Now come on, your late for breakfast again." He said setting the mattress back into place.

Ryan growled.

"And put some pants on." His Dad said after he left the room.

A few minutes later Ryan walked down the stairs wearing a different t-shirt and some jeans. The girls had just got done with their breakfasts as Ryan walked into the kitchen. Kori and Cami got up from the table and kissed their Dad good-bye. Walking into their garage, Kori asked.

"Cami, can I get a ride to school? My car's been crapping out again." She said.

"I guess." Her sister said.

"Thanks Cam." Kori said walking around to the passenger's side.

"Sure thing." Cami replied climbing into the driver's seat.

"Buckle up." Cami said as she started the engine.

The garage door opened and a navy blue Chevy Blazer 2 door backed out the driveway and into the street. Cami beeped the horn waving good-bye to their Dad. He waved back at them through the window,

While the blue Blazer went down the road Kori turned on the radio fortunately for her they both listen to the same station. Green Day's _"Boulevard of Broken Dreams" _had begun playing. It was one of their all time favorite songs. Coming down First Ave. They passed Vic's house and catch him getting into his car. Cami honked at him and he waved. Victor started up his Camero the clock radio came on 105.5 fm. It was KZXA the same station Cami and Kori were listening to. The clock reads 7:25 am.

At the Wayne Estate Richard jumped in his Corvette and peeled out. Over at Wintergreen's Slade had just gotten into his black Mercedes coupe raced out of the circle drive. A couple of minutes later Vic, Rich and Slade all met up on a three-lane street. They line up side by side by side.

_AN: Being an author I'm partically against using any kind of internet lingo in any of my stories, mainly becuase I think thier kind of annoying, but I made an exception this one time. So how did you like the chapter? What did you think of Cami (Blackfire) being in this chapter? For those of you who just reading the fic, can you leave a review and let me know what you think? I'd like to know how I'm doing so far and if you like the way this story is going. I'll be back later to post chapter 11. Also sorry about the whole Time difference thing. I know that must be confusing to some of you, but its to show that several hours have passed. Sorry if that confuses anyone. _


	11. Skipping School

**Chapter 11: Skipping School **

Slade, Rich and Vic had all made it up to the three lane highway. Since sophomore year, they held a race to school every Friday morning, the boys revved their engines Richard in his red Corvette, Slade in his black Mercedes-Benz and Victor in his black Camero SS. Waiting anxiously for the light to turn green. The revved their engines all the more with each passing second. Finally the light hit green, tires squeal and the three racers come barreling off the starting line. In the beginning they were even until Slade and Rich started pulling away from him. Slade was in the lead, but Richard's hot on his tail. Slade darted past a car that was in front of him and increased his lead by two car lengths. Richard went to the inside trying to catch up with leaving Vic in last place.

Slade leads the race going 112 mph thanks to his German-made Kompressor engine. Richard was following behind him on the other side at 108 mph, but Slade was still one car length ahead of him. Victor was still dead last, the road was clear from here on out. Grabbing the stick shift he shifted down going from 80-90. He stepped down harder on the gas till he floored it, taking the mighty black camero from 90-120 in a matter of seconds. The Super Sport Chevrolet flew past Slade as he takes over first place. Then Rich passed him, bumping Slade into third place. Slade accelerated as he chased after them. The three cars came down the turn at 120 miles per hour. Victor is still in the lead Rich was coming up beside him trying to pass him.

"Think again." Vic said as he served his car into Richard's way causing him to back off.

Then Slade was riding up behind Victor. Richard got back beside his friend. He's boxed in! Slade goes outside, way outside as he passed Richard's Vette. Slade shifts up, the speedometer jumps to 140 leaving his buddies in the dust.

"No, you don't." Richard said.

He downshifted and climbs up to 135mph as he takes over second place.

By now Vic's had enough, pressing the red button on his steering wheel; he activated the Nitrous Oxide system he had installed in his car. He was jerked back in his seat as the Camero went from 120-140. A wild black blur came charging up the highway to challenge Slade for the lead.

Slade looked behind him and sees Victor's Camero come up on his right side.

"Too bad," Said Slade as pressed the gas peddle harder taking him up to 150.

Vic cursed and tried going faster. Rich was still in last place with his Corvette. Richard had no choice but to use his Nitrous Oxide button as he jumped from 140-160, ganging the lead over both of them. Victor growled and shook his head as he watched him pass. He fired the second booster to keep himself in the race as he managed to catch up with both Slade and Rich, putting Victor in second place. But unfortunately for both of them Slade's Mercedes was Autobahn tested and has way more power than the both of them put together. He could take it as far as 175mph, but instead of doing that he began to slow down; Slade is pulling away from the race. Why? Well, because city limits was close by Slade continued slowing down.

140, 130, 120, 100, 85...

Richard's Vette began slowing down as well.

160, 140, 120, 100, 90, 80, 70…

The city and traffic getting closer Vic had no choice but to slow down, but slowing down wouldn't be as easy for him since he used double nitrous oxide boost. His tires skidded as he pushed the brake and emergency break. The Camero slid down the road tires squealing all the way.

160, 120, 90, 75…

The three racers came into town, with Slade leading the pack in first, Vic in second and Rich in third. As they came into the next turn Rich edged past Vic, the three of them in tight proximity of each other, Rich's Corvette squeezed past Vic's Camero as he tried to pass Slade's SLK 320. But for whatever reason he isn't able to pass, Slade maintained the lead all the way through. When they got out into the open, Vic goes to the outside and roars past Slade and Rich. They're heading into the final stretch. And now that Richard passed Slade, it's every man for himself, a teenage spotter saw them in the distance

"Here they come!" he yelled.

The three of them whipped into a tight "S" curve, Vic's car slid as it came out of the turn. And the Corvette pulled into the lead. Students were cheering and jumping as they saw the red Corvette. But Slade rockets out of the curve and blow past Vic and caught up to Richard in seconds. With the finish line just a quarter mile away, it's an all out race to the finish. And come flying down the street at 100mph. coming up to a hill, the Chevy and Mercedes fly over the hill in slow motion. When time proceeded the two racers landed at the same time, and raced across the finish line together. They had almost tied for first place, but Richard beat him by just a bumper. Vic finished just a couple of seconds later. The two racers split up and slid across sideways to a stop facing in total opposite directions.

The crowd went wild; people were screaming and jumping as they ran toward the cars. Richard and Slade got out of their vehicles and were immediately surrounded by cheering fans. Kori ran up and hugged Richard she squealed in excitement.

"You won! Man, It was so close I couldn't tell!" she said overjoyed.

Slade leaned against the inside of his open car door arms crossed and he didn't look too happy, Richard turned a bit red and gave a nervous chuckle, as he tried getting her to let go. But Kori didn't relinquish her grip. The crowd continued to cheer. Several guys were giving Slade pats on the back, turning his attention away from Rich.

A couple minutes later in the Rec. Room, a bottle of Coke dropped from the vending machine, Kori handed the drink to Rich.

"Thanks, but you didn't have to buy that for me." He told her.

"Yeah, but I wanted to." She said with a smile.

He smiled back, "You want one?" he asked.

"I can get that." Kori said.

"But you already bought one for me." He said.

"No, that's ok." She said.

"No, put that dollar away. I got it." Rich said taking out his wallet.

"It's the least I can do." He said.

Kori was about to protest but gave in to his insistence.

"What do you want?" he asked as he put the dollar in.

"Cherry Coke," She said.

He pressed the button and the bottle dropped into the pit of the vending machine. She takes the pop.

"Thanks." She said smiling.

"No problem." He said smiled back.

The first period bell rang.

"Well, I better get to class." She said.

"Yeah, I'll catch you later." Rich said.

"Bye." Kori told him.

"See ya." They went their separate ways.

Richard rushed to Mr. Hillsdale's history class and just made it in as the Brit teacher was taking roll call.

"Ah, Mr. Grayson yer right on time as usual." Mr. Hilldale said.

"Sorry, Mr. H," Richard apologized.

"Well, hop a squat class is starting you know." Hilldale said as he ushered the teen in.

"Today, as part of our study of World War II history, we'll learn about the Tuskegee Air Force Men. Called the "Black Squadron" they were the only African-American group of fighter pilots…." Hilldale's voice trailed off as he went into his lecture.

Back at the Logan House, Gar was still in bed. He told his mom that he wasn't feeling well, feigning illness. Taking his temperature it was reading a little high; little did she know the hot water bottle he was laying on.

"I told you not to eat that moldy pizza." She said.

"It looked ok to me. Ooh!" he groaned.

Mariah had already begun dialing the school number. The phone ringed in the school office a woman picked it up.

"Good morning, X High School this is Bianca." The woman said cheerfully.

"Yes, this is Mariah Logan, Garfield's mom. He got sick off some food last night; he's running a bit of a temperature and won't be in school today." She said.

"All right, I'll tell his teachers." Bianca said.

"Thank you. Good bye." Mariah said as she hung up.

"I better call Steve and tell him you're sick." She said as she had started dialing again.

"NO! I mean he's so busy, and you wouldn't want to bother him." Gar reasoned with her.

"You know he's grouchy, first thing in the morning." Hoping she'd reconsider.

"I guess your right." She said.

"Besides, I'll be fine in a couple hours." He told his mom.

Mariah looked at her watch.

"If you think you'll be all right. I got to go to work." She said kissing him on his brow.

"I'll see you this evening Garfield."

"Bye Mom."

And with that He tossed the covers off of him and threw his water bottle aside A while later his Mom pulled out of the drive and went off to work.

Over at Tara's house her brother Brian called the school and told them that his sister is sick, with that in mind that office woman told Tara's teachers that she wouldn't be in today. Brian hung up the phone and smiled at his little sister,

"Thanks." Tara said.

"Hey it's no problem," said Bryan.

"Greg is going to kill us if he found out." She said.

"That's because he won't." Brian smiled.

"So I'll see you downstairs in a couple minutes." He said as he turned to leave her room.

"Cool, thanks Brian." She said as he closed the door.

Tara kicked off the covers and walked over to her closet. A few minutes later she came downstairs wearing a black halter top and a pair of jeans; she walked into the kitchen, it was just her and Bryan.

"You ready?" he asked.

"Yeah!"

"All right. Let's head out. He said.

They walk out the door together, in the garage they climb into Brian's yellow 2002 Nissan X-Terra, the solar yellow SUV pulled out of the drive and headed off to Gar's house.

10 am the Markovs pulled into the Logans driveway Gar looked out his bedroom window and saw the yellow sport utility and went downstairs, he came out the front door and walked up to the driver's side and opened the backdoor. He climbed in and shut the door.

"What's up Terra?" said Gar.

"Hey!" she said cheerfully.

Brian looked at him through the rear view mirror.

"Are you Garfield?" he asked.

"Yeah?" the teen asked.

"My name's Brian, I'm Tara's older brother."

"Oh, well it's good to meet you." Gar said a little nervous.

Brian nodded his head "It's good to meet you too. You two want to stop in for breakfast? It's a long drive to San Francisco." Brain said.

"Can we go to Denny's?" his sister asked.

Brian looked back up at Gar through the rearview mirror.

"Denny's ok with you?" he asked.

"Yeah." He answered.

"All right. Denny's it is." He said as he put the car in reverse and backed out of the drive.

A while later and just a few miles down the road they pulled into the local Denny's after parking the car they walked in.

"Good Morning, welcome to Denny's. How are there?" the waitress asked politely.

"Three." Brian said holding up the number of fingers.

"Will that be booth or table?" the waitress asked.

"Booth." Brian said.

"All right, if you'll follow me I'll take you to your table." She said gathering up the menus.

She led them across the full dining room and got them a window side table. She sat the menus down and allowed them to get in. Tara and Gar sat on one side while Brian sat in the other. The waitress left them for a moment. Gar nervously looked up from his menu at the spiky haired older brother.

"So, uh B-Brian, uh what is it that you do?" he asked in a high-pitched voice.

"I'm a college student at USC. I also own a bar in downtown San Diego." He simply stated.

"Really? How old are you?" Gar asked more relaxed this time.

"I'm 24 and what about you?" Brian asked his friend.

"Well, I'm 16, and I don't really have a job. But I'm looking for one." He said.

"All right, well good luck in that." Brian nodded.

He turned his attention to Tara.

"So, Baby T how long have you know this guy?" he asked tilting his head towards Gar.

"Brian!" she said clearly embarrassed.

Gar turned to her amused.

"Baby T?" as he started to laugh.

Tara could feel her cheeks heating up.

"Well, yeah she's my baby sister and her nickname is T. Baby T." Brian explained.

"Heh heh, Baby T." Gar repeated.

Tara pouted; the waitress came back with their drinks.

"And what would you like for breakfast?" the woman asked taking out her notepad.

They talked amongst themselves for a moment.

"Denny's Grand Slams ™ all around." Brian said.

She scribbled down their orders.

"All right that's 3 Denny's Grand Slams_™_. Would you like anything else?" she asked kindly.

"I think we're good." Brian said.

"All right, your orders will be ready in a couple minutes." She said and walked away.

"Thank you." Brian said.

A couple of minutes later they were all chowing down on their big breakfasts 3 pancakes, 2 eggs, hash browns, and 2 pieces of toast. For each of them, a half hour later the three of them walked out of the restaurant completely stuffed.

"Oh, wow that was great." Brian said as they walked out.

"Hey, thanks for breakfast Brian." Gar said.

"Any time dude." Brian said nonchalant.

Tara smiled at the two as they walked to the car.

About an hour later, they pulled into the parking lot and walk inside AT&T Ballpark the home of the San Francisco Giants. After a few minutes of walking the make it to the stands, the stadium is beautiful. Outside the park is San Francisco Harbor where fans will watch the game from their boats and sit in wait for the occasional splashdown homerun ball, fans will dive into the bay in order to retrieve the coveted homerun ball. Back inside the stadium our three friends sat down in their bright orange seats. And watched the players warm up for the game, but there was one person in particular they were looking for. Then suddenly they spotted him as Brian pointed out to them and saw him, standing in the white Giants uniform coming up to bat the team's power hitter #25 Barry Bonds.

The trio leaned forward in their seats as they watched him warm up. Since this was practice the pitcher had a protective fence shielding him from the batter. The pitcher threw him the ball like it was the real thing and Barry managed to get in some good hits but nothing that made it past the shortstop. Then when he threw him the next pitch Barry nails it and sent the ball into the stands, the pitcher spun around in time to see it fly. He smiled and gave his teammate an approving nod. Bonds got an ovation from the fans. The slugger smiled at his fans. Tara, Gar and Brian were all applauding him.

A half hour later it was game time as a woman finished singing the Star-Spangled Banner the crowd applauds and the umpire yells those magic words.

"Play Ball!"

The Giants take the field; today they will be playing the San Diego Padres. In their badge colored road uniforms _"San Diego"_ written across the chest in blue and the number, and their blue baseball caps with white overlapping _SD_ logo. The home team was wearing the white jerseys with _"Giants"_ written across in black, and an orange outline with no numbers in the front. They wore their black baseball caps with the orange interlocking _SF _monogram. The Giants are fielding and the Padres are batting.

Back at the high school, their friends were still in class, it was the last period before lunch. Mr. Hilldale's class let out. As Richard was walking down the hall he saw Roy Harper walking to another class. He seemed to have healed up from their match back on Monday. Wanting to ignore him Richard immersed himself in with the crowd and walked right past him. Roy went up a flight of stairs never seeing him, Richard broke away from the crowd and went to his locker, he put his books away grabbed his jacket and shut the door. Slipping on his jacket he runs out the door got in his car and took off. Dropping by the local Hardee's _™ _and got himself a Thickbuger_™_ combo. Where coincidentally his best buddy Slade was eating, a second later he sits down at a one-person table next to him.

"Hey man." Richard greeted.

"What's up?" his friend said.

After a few minutes of eating, Rich decided to ask his friend a question.

"Hey Slade, uh, you know how you once asked me if you can date Kori?" he asked.

"Yeah, you want to date her?" Slade asked like it didn't really bother him.

Rich rubbed the back of his neck somewhat ashamed.

"Well, you see the thing is…." Richard started but then Slade cut him off.

"Dude, relax Kori likes you. It's cool." He said.

"You knew?" Rich asked.

"She didn't tell me, but she's been showing it for some time." Slade said.

The silver haired teen takes a cigarette from the inside of his jacket and lit his coffin nail, after drawing in a puff he continued.

"I could tell that she liked you, when we went to that race a couple weeks ago." He said.

"So, you're cool with this?" Rich asked.

"Well not at first, I mean I really liked her but… I guess that it just wasn't meant to be." Slade said tapping the ashtray.

"It's all right, she's into you Richard. You should date her." He said.

"Thanks." Rich said and held out his hand.

"Yeah." Slade said shaking his hand.

It's only on rare occasion that the Best Friend Rule is ever used.

_When two friends are interested in the same girl and the girlfriend is interested in the best friend. If the two friends come to a mutual agreement the boyfriend will relinquish his girl and let his best friend date her, and the two guys remain friends._

An agreement and a handshake seal the deal. Richard is free to date Kori now.

"All right, thanks man." Richard said.

"Hey, it's no problem." Slade said with a smile.

Richard laughs relieved that he doesn't have to face a confrontation with his friend. They walked out the restaurant got in their cars and drove back to school. Slade put out his cigarette and got in his Benz and drove off.

Kori and Raven were walking to class when Kori said to her.

"I heard that Gar and Tara are sick today."

Raven smiled and nods her head.

"Yeah, I wonder where they really are?" she said knowing him all too well.

Rich and Slade came from around the corner behind them when Richard spoke up.

"Wherever they are, I'm sure that their having fun." He said.

The laughed at the remark Rich was walking behind Kori and Slade walking behind Raven. A group of friend that have been together since their middle school days headed off to their next class.

"You know we should have gone with them." Slade said.

"Yeah, what were we thinking staying here?" Rich joked.

"We're thinking that you guys get in enough trouble as it is." Raven commented.

"I don't know, do you think we get in enough trouble?" Rich asked Slade jokingly.

"Not even close, man." Slade answered.

"Remember that time we glued Flip's butt to the swing at recess?" Rich asked.

"Yeah, ha ha and two of the teachers tried pulling him off, he had to take off his pants to get out of the swing." Slade told them.

"You guys are terrible." Kori said.

"What about that time we put green dye in Gar's shower?" Slade asked.

"Now that was funny!" Rich said.

"Wait a minute that was you guys?" Raven asked.

"Yeah!" said Richard and Slade.

_Author's Note: Well, what did you think of this chapter? Any good? The next one is where Gar, Tara & Bryan go to the baseball game. I hope you guys like the next one. _


	12. San Francisco

_Author's Note: Hey here I am again with the 12th chapter to X High School, I want to give special thanks to Comixfan1224 and esecially thank Dolphinluver21 for reviewing all of my chapters. Who had nearly doubled the number of reviews for my story. That came as a tremendous suprise to me. Thank you both! All right so this is the continuation to the last chapter. Gar and Tara have officially pulled a "Ferris Bueller" by ditching school and going to a baseball game. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much I had fun writing it. And dont forget to tell me what you think of it. Here's X High School, chapter 12._

**Chapter 12**

**San Francisco**

Back at the game the guys were having the time of their life. The Giants were up three to nothing. Gar had a big orange and black Giants foam finger Bryan bought him. Tara was wearing a brand new Giants cap and Bryan bought himself a Barry Bonds jersey. The Padres was up to bat. And here's the pitch. The bat splinters into a million pieces and goes flying high into center field; the batter takes off towards 1st. the fans stood up in their seats. As the Centerfielder rushes to the falling ball, the runner's rounding second base. The fielder caught it and throws it to the Shortstop; the ball flew past the shortstop and to the 2nd baseman. The runner is on his way to third. He runs after the runner and throws the ball to the third baseman. 3b caught it, the base runner stops dead in his tracks and turns back around with the third baseman chasing him, he tosses it back to the second baseman, and they got the runner right where they want him. They chased down the runner throwing the ball back and forth closing in on the runner, in a last ditch effort the runner tries to run past the third baseman that already had the ball and got tagged out. The fans cheered, that was the third out. The inning is over Tara jumped up and down with her arms in the air. Gar and Brian were cheering. The Giants trot off the field and into the dugout.

Bryan sat down and took a sip of his beer, Gar and Tara sat down afterwards. Gar looked over at Brian.

"Hey Brian, can I get a drink?" he asked.

"I can get you a pop." He answered.

Not the answer he was hoping for but it was better than nothing.

"What can I get you?" Brian asked.

"A large Coke." Gar answered.

"All right." The young man said getting up sliding past Gar and Tara.

He looked back at his sister and asked her if she wanted something.

"If it's not too much trouble a Coke and some popcorn?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure." He said.

"Thanks." Tara said.

A while later Brian was down in the concessions putting a blue credit card on the counter he paid for the food and drinks getting him a hotdog and a coke. He comes back upstairs a minute later with his arms so full he could hardly see over them. Tara got up and rushed over to help him carry some of the stuff. Getting back to their seats Tara sat hers down first then helped Brian give the coke to Gar and then let her brother sit down.

"Whoo! Next time, you get it." Bryan joked.

The two of them thanked him for getting their snacks. And right in time for the start of the next inning.

This time the Padres take the field and the Giants are up to bat. Brian takes a bite out of his hotdog, with ketchup, mustard and relish. .

"Yeah! Go Giants!" he said chewing his food.

J.T. Snow of the Giants got a hit and was on his way to first base; the second baseman caught it and threw it to First getting the first out.

"Awww," Brian groaned.

He leaned back in his seat, Tara munched on her popcorn and Gar took a drink of his pop. The next batter was up to bat. Here's the windup and the pitch.

"Steerike 1!" yells the umpire.

"Strike 2!"

"Oh, come on!" Brian yelled pointlessly at the ump.

"Get your head in the game!" Gar yells at the batter, knowing he can't hear him.

The batter touched his helmet and got into the batting position. When the pitch came he didn't swing.

"Ball 1!" said the ump.

The next pitch came and again he didn't swing.

"Ball 2."

When the pitch came this time he swinged and got a hit. The ball shoots up to the second baseman jumped high in the air and caught it that was a great play! The batter walked begrudgingly back to the dugout, 2 out. The next batter that came after him smacked the ball to the farthest corner of the field and ran like the dickens passing second base; the Padres Left Fielder ran back to the corner to pick up the ball and throws it. The runner is safe at Third. He just scored a Triple _(from Home to Third)_ and the crowd goes wild.

"Yes!" went the Giants manager applauding his player.

Next up to bat was Barry Bonds.

"Yes! Whooo!" cheered Brian as he got up in his seat, as did several others.

Barry practice swings, as he gets ready to face the Padres pitcher. Here comes the pitch, Barry swings and connects it's a foul ball. The guys look up and see the ball heading towards them Brian and Gar get up. Brian had his glove out, Tara yells kicking her legs trying to shield herself, the ball drops into Tara's popcorn. The crowd applauds her on a one of a kind catch. She looks into her popcorn box and sees the baseball resting at the bottom of it. She takes out the foul ball and holds it high so everyone can see it. Cheers and applause ring out around her. The mega screen records the perky little teen girl holding the ball with Gar and Brian standing right next to her applauding.

The game resumed with Barry getting ready for the next pitch, its right down the middle and Barry crushes it, tearing the cover off that ball. It's going…going…gone! The ball flew out of the stadium and splashes into the bay. About 3 or 4 fans dive in after it. One emerges with the ball in his hand proudly holding it high above his head. Other seafaring fans applaud him from the comfort of their boats. A white sailboat glides across the outside of the harbor. Barry's jogging across 2nd Base, with the fans giving him a standing ovation, he comes around 3rd base and across home, winning the game with a 2-run home run. And a final score of 4-2.

When the game was over, they walked down to the field. After a short while of looking they caught him standing in the corner of the dugout gathering up his things. Tara approached him.

"Eh-eh Excuse me, Mr. Bonds?" she asked.

Barry looked over and saw a young teenage girl standing before him. She held up the ball.

"Would you please autograph this?" she asked.

The slugger smiled.

"Why sure." He said warmly, taking the ball from her he picks up a pen from the cubbyhole.

"Whose this for?" he asked kindly.

"I-I-Its Tara. Tara Markov." She told him,

"To Tara, Barry Bonds #25" as he wrote it out, he tossed it back to her.

"Here you go." He said smiling.

"Thanks." She said.

"Could you sign this?" Gar asked shoving the foam finger in front of his face.

Barry takes out a perminant marker.

"And your name?" he asked.

"It's Gar." He answered.

Barry signed it and gave it back to him.

"Thank you." He said.

"Thanks for your time." Brian said to him,

"It's my pleasure." Barry said shaking hands with Bryan.

Tara gave him a hug and he shook hands with Gar and they were off. Tara and Gar got in the backseat of the car.

A while later they were driving down the street when Gar said.

"Thanks for bringing us Brian."

"Yeah Brain thanks." Tara piped up.

Brian laughed with a smile.

"Ha ha, it's no problem guys. So how did you like the game?" he asked.

"We loved it." Said Tara

"Yeah, it was cool! We really can't thank you enough for letting us meet Barry Bonds!" Gar spoke excitedly.

"And you brought home another kind of souvenir." Brian said.

Tara smiled as she held the autographed foul ball.

"Just don't show your parents any of that stuff." Brian suggested.

"Count on it!" they said in unison.

"So while we're in town you guys want to do something else?" Brian asked.

Tara and Gar looked at each other.

"Yeah." they said.

Tara leaned forward in her seat.

"Can we go see the Bay?" she asked.

"Yeah, but we can't make it down there by car." He said after he parallel parked.

"You guys up for skating?" he asked.

A few minutes later they were seen skating down the sidewalk wearing protective gear. Brian and Gar were on rollerblades and Tara was riding a skateboard. Tara did an Ollie on her skateboard as it flipped around beneath her feet. She jumped up and grinded a park bench landing back on smooth pavement, Gar jumped and cleared the park bench while Bryan just skated past it. A while later they were in the park, skating down the sidewalk, they came around the bend and saw a staircase with railings. The three of them went for it, Gar skated down the steps backwards and Brian and Tara grinded the rails they each made it down safely. Brian and Tara sat down at the edge of a fountain. Gar was moonwalking on his skates. He spun around in a 360 and took his seat between Brian and Tara. The three removed their helmets and sat them down beside them. Brian was a little out of breath when he spoke.

"If you guys _(pant)_ are ever in San Diego you should _(pant)_ go see Petco Ballpark. Where the Padres play _(longer pant)_ they have _(pant)_ a beautiful stadium." Brian finally managed to say.

"Sounds _(pant)_ like fun." Gar said totally out of breath.

Brian caught his breath.

"Maybe if you ask your parents I can take you guys with me when I go back." He said.

Gar thought about it for a moment.

"I think I'd like that." He said.

"Come on, let's go see the aquarium." Tara said as she got up.

"Can you give us a minute? We just got here." Gar whined.

"Slow poke." Tara kidded.

A few minutes later the yellow SUV pulled into the parking lot of the San Francisco Aquarium. Walking in the front door they pay admittance and go inside. When they entered the aquarium an ocean of blue surrounds them. There was an arch above them encompassing the entire room; they walked down the narrow walkway, there was a voice on the speaker box next to them talking about the various sorts of fish. Tara pointed at a sea turtle that swam by.

"Look!"

Gar said his arm shoots across Tara's nose she turned to see a shark swim by it looks at them and continues on its way. Tara moved Gar's arm down, and he grinned at her letting his arm drop to his side and they continue on walking. Looking to their right they see a school of giant fish.

"What are those?" Tara and Gar both asked and walked over to the fish in wonderment.

"They're tuna." Brian simply stated.

Both of their eyes shot big and look at each other and then back at Brian.

"Those are Tuna!" they said at the same time.

Brian smiled and walked up to them.

"What did you think, they were little fish?" he asked.

"Uh, well…" showing their embarrassment.

Brian walked on down the hall the two followed him.

"So, how do they get them into those little cans?" Gar whispered to Tara.

Brian laughs silently to himself and shook his head.

"_Just as long they don't pull a Jessica Simpson."_ He thought as they continued walking.

They turn and go down another hallway and see a school of Angelfish. They stop and watch and them for a moment a fish swam up to Tara and looked at her, it opened and closed its mouth in front of Tara as it looked at her through the glass. She was mimicking the fish, as it floated there in bewilderment. The angelfish turned and swam away.

They went on to the next exhibit which housed tropical fish.

"Oh they're so pretty!" Tara said with her hands clasped.

Small tropical fish of every color swam around in the habitat.

"Yeah, they are." Gar said.

"I'm going to go check on something, be right back." Brian said as he walked off.

Tara gave a small short wave. A few moments after he had gone, she laces her fingers in-between his.

"Come on." She said to him with a smile.

Gar smiled back at her. They were walking down the hallway together looking at the fishes. Walking into a giant room, they saw a giant whale swim by them; they looked in awe as they watched him swim past. Tara and Gar walked up to the glass and see a killer whale. The orca swam in a half circle heading out toward the open water, they see a school of blue and yellow fish swim close to the window. People walked behind them.

"So, seen anything good yet?" Gar asked, striking up a conversation.

"A few things here and there." She turned to him.

"Want to go see the one I like the best?" she asked.

"Sure." He answered.

She takes him by the hand once more and rushed hurriedly through the hallways to another part of the complex.

"I haven't been in here since I was a little girl." she tells Gar.

They were in the polar bear exhibit.

"This has always been my favorite part." Tara said with a smile.

She walked forward and put her hand on the glass the polar bear came up and put its nose against the glass where Tara's hand is she giggled as the bear rubbed its head against the glass. Gar chuckled as he watched both her and the bear and walked up to the glass as the bear rubbed itself against his hand. Brian stood on the second floor catwalk, smiled broadly as he watched them. He then turned and left. Tara and Gar continued guiding the bear with their hands until they inadvertently met. They looked up and smiled at each other. The bear came up and put both of its enormous paws on the window. Tara and Gar's smiled broadened as they turned to face each other, Tara put her left hand on Gar's left arm. And Gar placed his right hand on placed it on Tara's waist pulling her closer to him. Tara blushed a little looking down; Gar brought her closer to him where her hands were resting on his chest. He looked down at her and smiled, Tara rests her head on his chest. Gar wrapped his arms around her breathing in her sent.

"I love you." She told him.

"I love you too." He said.


	13. San Antholas Tonight

_Author's Note: Ok, wow I got two hyperactive readers who told me they couldnt wait for the next chapter. I want to give a **big** thank you to Dolphinluver 21 and my newest reader Ember The Dying Flame. Here's X High School chapter 13. I hope everyone likes this chapter. Thanks again girls. Also anybody who isnt a member is free to review this story. _

**Chapter 13: San Antholas Tonight**

Back in San Antholas a storm was brewing, a big one, schools had let out earlier so students and faculty can make it home before a severe thunderstorm breaks loose. Everybody was already on they're way home, well almost everyone. It had begun raining and Raven's truck is acting up, with the engine sputtering and thick black smoke pouring from the exhaust pipe the engine died leaving Raven stranded along side the road. Raven got out and popped the hood.

"Aw great." She said pounding her hand in frustration.

It began to pour, Raven shuts the hood and gets back in her truck her navy dress soaking wet. She took a handkerchief sitting on the bench seat and wipes off the running makeup. Cars passed by her truck only concerned with getting themselves home. Slade was driving down the highway, headlights shining and windshield wipers on full. When he looked and saw 4-way flashing taillights, he recognized the pickup and pulled over in front of her. Raven saw a black Mercedes pull in front of her with his name on the plate. He got out of his car and rushed over to her in the pouring rain, it began to thunder. Raven rolled down her window manually.

"You ok?" He asked hair plastered to his forehead and water dripping off his goatee.

"Yeah, it died." She said.

"Get in, I'll take you home." He said

"Ok."

She gets out of the truck. They run back to the car and get in Slade put it in drive and drives off leaving the abandoned truck on the side of the road. It was then she realized how wet she was, her blue dress was plastered to her body Raven covered her chest. Slade just keeps driving and did his best not to look at her.

The Mercedes sped up as it zipped across the road passing the other cars. Raven realized that the seats were leather. And leather can be damaged or ruined if it gets wet. Slade's known for taking excellent care of his car.

"You didn't have to do this." She said to him as her way of apologizing.

"Don't even say that Raven, you know I would." He said never looking at her.

Raven smiled.

"Thanks Slade." She said.

"Your welcome." He nods his head keeps looking forward.

She watched him her smile held strong, she lowered her arms a bit knowing that he wouldn't look. They came up to a stop light at a 4-way intersection. The windshield wipers were on high. Through the heavy rain they could see a yellow SUV drive across the adjacent street. Tara, Brian and Gar had just gotten back into the city and were headed for Gar's residence to drop him off, before his parents got back. The light turned green the black Mercedes drives off.

Thunder boomed as the Nissan went down the road, the wipers at full power and external heaters were trying to keep the excess water off. Lightning flashed as they pulled into Garfield's driveway.

"Thanks for everything." He said.

Tara wrapped her arms around him.

"See ya." She said.

"Yeah, see ya." He said hugging her back.

Gar bravely kissed her on the cheek and they break their embrace.

"I'll talk to you later ok?" she asked.

"You got it babe." He said.

He opened the rear passenger door and jumps out shutting it behind him.

"Bye." Tara said softly.

Gar got up to his doorstep unlocking it and got in. Brian shifted it in reverse and backed out of the drive and takes off. Tara looked out the back window, as the house got smaller. She turned back around in her seat.

"So, you really like him do you?" her brother asked.

"You have no idea." She said climbing up to the passenger's seat buckling her seatbelt.

"Oh, I think I know. So how long you two been together?" he asked as they went down the road.

A couple miles in the other direction Slade was driving Raven back to her house. The SLK Sports Coupe got up to her house, instead of pulling in his backed into Raven's driveway so she'd be a little closer to the door. It was still pouring Raven leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks." She said.

He smiled and blushed a little.

"Sure thing." He said.

"I'll see you later." She said opening the door thunder loomed outside.

He waited until she got up to the door and went inside, Slade put the car in drive and left.

Slade couldn't help but smile as he drove back to the mansion. Coming down the other side of the road was a blue Chevy Blazer its Kori and Cami. The two cars passed each other Kori looked over her shoulder.

"Was that Slade?" Kori asked.

"Think so." Cami said.

As they turned off on their home street Brian's Nissan X-Terra passed them, as it turns left and up the street Kori and Cami just came from. After making another left turn the X-Terra pulled into the garage. Coming inside the house Tara went upstairs to her room with her parents still thinking she was sick. Brian jumps on the couch and turns on _Sportscenter._ Kori and Cami just got home and Richard was already at his house reading _Sports Illustrated_. Slade had just pulled into his circle drive and into the spacious 5-car garage. Slade peeled himself from his seat, grabs a towel and wipes down the seats tossing the towel aside he shut the door to his car and went inside.

Back on the other side of town, at San Antholas H.S. Gym Babs was finishing her basketball practice. It had been six o' clock when practice had finally let out; the weather is still coming down hard. Babs is walking across the soaked parking lot wearing a black Adidas jacket and short shorts. She reached into her pocket walking up to her car, when a man grabbed her wrist from behind.

"Give us your money!" he commanded.

Barbara found herself surrounded by three guys. She whirled around and punched him in the face.

"Sorry, I'm a little tougher than you might think." She said to him.

The two other guys attack her, Barbara used a sweeping kick to knock the second guy down she got up and did a roundhouse kick on the third guy knocking him against her car triggering the car alarm. The first guy got up and pinned her to the car holding both wrists. Barbara struggled against him. The bad guy smiled at her. Something shot out of nowhere and wrapped around his neck pulling him to the ground and was then pulled away from her a shadowy figure stood on top of the roof of the gym. The teenage hood struggled with the cord wrapped around his neck; his two friends got a hold of the rope and pulled back on it. But the figure released the rope causing them to fall backwards. Barbara looked up as she saw the figure jump and flip through the air, when he landed it wasn't whom she expected.

A boy in a deep red costume, gold colored boots and a yellow Robin Hood hat with a red plume stood before her. He held a red bow and had a yellow quiver on his back.

"Want to make a quick buck? Try an ATM." He said.

The three young men get up.

"Who the hell are you?" one of them demanded.

"Speedy. I'm new in town, so why don't you guys do yourselves a favor and turn yourselves in. Before things get ugly." He suggested.

The three men laugh at him.

"Well listen here newbie. We own this town," said their leader with a Latino accent.

"I bet you do." Speedy said with a smirk.

"Get him!" yelled the leader.

The two men attacked Speedy he whacked both of them with his bow, they stumbled past him. They turn around and attack him again with fists flying. Speedy ducked their attacks trapping one guy's arm in his bow he punched the bad guy right in the face. Slipped his bow off the man's arm and jammed it into the other man's stomach. He turns around and swings his bow clocking the crook in temple and down he went.

The ringleader starts to run away, Speedy takes an arrow from his quiver and stretched it in his bow. The tip of the arrow exploded to reveal a giant boxing glove he shoots at the fleeing felon and nailed him in the back of the neck knocking him out cold. The boy lowers his bow seeing that his work is done. Barbara walks over to him he looks over at her.

"You all right?" Speedy asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks." She said.

"You should probably call the police; get these felons out of here." He suggested.

"Oh, right. I didn't catch your name." she said.

The crimson teen turned and faced her.

"I'm Speedy." He said.

"Thanks." She said.

"Sure thing." He said and walks off.

"Bye." She said.

Speedy waved good-bye shoots an arrow to the top of school and sails off vanish into the stormy night. Babs took out her cell phone and called the police, but did give her name so her father the commissioner wouldn't worry about her. She drives off before police arrived.

A couple of minutes later Barbara pulled into Wayne Manor she had to speak with Bruce.

"So this guy in red saved you?" he asked.

They were in the Batcave. Bruce stands before her in his suit and tie.

"Yeah, he said his name is Speedy. You heard of him?" She asked.

He turned and walks over to the Bat Computer pressing a button and a picture came up on screen.

"He's a sidekick to Green Arrow. I've worked with them a time or two when I was with the League. Both of them are highly skilled marksmen with an array of arrow-based weaponry. From a boxing glove to a devastating quantum energy blast." Bruce explained.

"Sounds like you know him a little better than you let on." She tells him.

"Green Arrow's a little hard headed and didn't follow orders too well." He said.

Barb crossed her arms "Sounds like a certain someone we know."

Bruce smirked at this remark of course she was talking about the Boy Wonder.

"Have you ever met Speedy?" she asked.

"No, I haven't. And I don't think Robin has either." He told her.

She looked up at Bruce.

"Do you think we should tell him?" she asks.

"You just did." Came Richard's voice.

They look up and see him standing at the top of the stairs.

Dick and Babs were sitting at the kitchen table; a cup of tea was poured into a cup.

"So you feeling all right?" he asked.

"I'm fine, its not like I haven't been ambushed before." She said.

"Your usually in costume when it happens." Showing his concern.

"And I don't want to think what would happen to you if he didn't show up." Turning in his seat, he didn't face her.

Barbara knew he worried about her, but this was one of the few times he actually voiced his concern. She put her hand on top of his.

"I'll be more careful next time." she said.

He looked up and saw her smile. He smiled back at her.

"Thanks." She said.

"Your welcome." He replied.

She got up from her chair still holding his hand.

"I'm going to take a shower. I'll catch you later." She said pushing a lock of hair out of her eyes.

"All right." He said.

She let go of his hand and walked off, knowing how much he cares for her. Dick smiled softly as he watched her head off. He got up out of his chair, and headed down into the Batcave.

While Babs took a shower the Boy Wonder leaves the cave on his R Cycle. 20 minutes later he stood on the rooftop of a building looking down on the city. He spotted a figure carrying a bow on a rooftop below him looks like he's on patrol as well. The silence was about to be broken.

"My purse!" A woman's cried.

Robin looked to his right and ran and jumped off the building firing his grappling hook swinging down into the street. Speedy shot an arrow with a rope and zip-lined down into the street. A crook was running down the street a birdarang sailed right in front of his face, ricocheted off the brick wall causing sparks to fly, the startled robber doubled back but was faced with Robin. The Teen Wonder grabs him by the collar and punches him right in the face. Knocking him back a couple steps the crook pulls a gun, Robin kicks it out of his hand and delivers another punch to the face knocking him back against the wall. He hears the cock of 2 guns behind his head. The robber's two accomplices stand behind him. Robin looks out of the corner of his eye to see the smirk on one's face. The man on the right is electrocuted and goes down. His partner looks down at him alarmed when a heat arrow hit him in the butt.

"Woooow!" he yelled and jumped three feet off the ground.

Robin looked back and saw Speedy.

"Thought you could use a hand." He said,

"Thanks." Robin said.

The third bad guy was bouncing across the ground on his butt in pain.

"Ow! Ah! Put it out! Put it out!" he cried until landing in a puddle, steam whooshed out from under him.

"Ahhhhh." He sighed in relief.

Speedy grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Huh?" the crook looks up in confusion.

Robin turned his attention back toward the first crook he had pinned to the wall.

"Now, where was I?" he asked the bad guy whimpered before Robin punched him out.

The police arrived a while later to take them away.

Robin met up with Speedy later.

"Did the woman get her purse back?" Speedy asked.

"Yeah. I'm Robin, by the way." He said extending a handshake.

"Speedy." He said with a nod.

"You helped out a friend of mine earlier this evening." Robin said.

"Tell her she's welcome." The crimson archer said.

"Maybe we'll team up again some time." Robin said.

He looked up and Speedy was gone.

"Speedy?" he asked.

Sometime later Dick was back in the mansion sitting on the couch watching TV, when Barbara walked into the room drying her hair.

"Hey." She said.

"Hey." He replied.

She sat down next to him on the couch.

"Anything good on?" the redhead asked.

"No, not really." He said flipping through channels.

"Ooh, Baseball Tonight!" She said.

Dick put down the remote and they watched the sports news highlight show. They both got comfortable as they started with their lead-in story. Barbara rests her head on his shoulder. He put his arm around her, with a blanket over the both of them.

Midway through the program they talked about the Giants/Padres game. And while they watched Dick saw Tara sitting in the crowd.

"Hey, look who it is!" he said pointing at the screen.

Babs leaned forward and noticed Tara and Gar; she smiled when she saw them.

"Can't believe they went to a game." Her couch mate said.

When it switched back to the game, they showed this one Giants outfielder that ran back trying to catch the ball and crashed into the fence.

"Ohhh!" they both groaned.

"Ow." Dick said sympathetically.

Then later they showed Barry Bonds up to bat, here comes the pitch and Barry pops it back into the stands and into Tara's popcorn basket. They laughed a little when they saw their friend's reaction. The next time Barry hit a home run, tore the cover off that ball.

"Whoa!" Babs and Dick both said.

And watched it splash down into the bay and boaters dive in after it.

"…And the Giants win the game 4-2. Over we go to Milwaukee Brewers battle the Colorado Rockies, Brewers hosting the Rockies at Miller Park." The sports announcer said.

As they went to the next game it's the bottom of the third inning, the Brewers were up to bat. Here's the pitch and number 24 knocks it out of the park! At the top of the stadium the Brewers' Mascot jumped headfirst in the big yellow tube slide that was part of the ballpark and came out the bottom 2 floors down. The mustachioed mascot did a little dance to celebrate the homerun, as is the team's tradition. The Brewers won the game 2-1.

Then they moved onto the Houston Astros/Chicago Cubs game at Minute Maid Park in Houston. The Astros was up to bat, there's the pitch. He hits it deep into center field, the Cubs' outfielder is running back to the wall, but it ends up a homerun. As the Astros player began running the bases a little red locomotive with the Astros logo made a lap around the top of the stadium. With puffs of steam hitting the air, as the little train made its way around the stadium.

_Chug, chug, chug, chug, chug, whoo-whoo! _

Went the little red train as it made its victory lap the score in the first inning's 1-0. Then in the third inning the Cubs got a hit with two men on base, the ball ventured back to the wall and the Cubs scored twice. With the batter on third base now, 2-1 is the score. Later on in the fifth inning the Astros got another home run tying the score. And the train went around again. After an error by an Astros player in the bottom of the Fifth giving the Cubs another chance to score, 3-2. Then in the Sixth, the Astros got a hit driving it into the far corner of the field getting him to 2nd Base. The Cubs pitcher struck out the next two batters ending the Sixth Inning. Moving up to the 8th Inning, the Cubs were up to bat again, they get a hit but the Astros shortstop catches it getting him out. After two more outs, the Cubs go without scoring in the 8th. After battling back and forth in the 9th the score was even 4-4; it was the bottom of the ninth inning, Cubs were up to bat. They have a man on first and third. The Houston pitcher takes a long look at the bases. He throws the pitch; the batter pops it up, the catcher stood up removing his mask and goes back. All three runners take off, with the man on third heading towards home, the pitcher ran to home to cover the catcher, the catcher drops the ball panics and scoops it up running back to home base; he throws it to the pitcher, the runner slides. The pitcher dives and he's…not in time! The runner's safe at home, and the Cubs win it by a score of 5-4. What a game!

"Oh man, did you see that?" Dick said.

"I know. That was incredible." Barbara said.

They watched the rest of the sportscast, as another storm started out outside. A few hours later they were asleep on the couch. Barbara's head rested on his shoulder, their arms intertwined. Alfred came in and silently drew the covers over them; he shut off the TV and went upstairs to bed.

_Author's Note: Ok, so what did you think of that? Bet you didnt expect Speedy coming to her rescue. xD. Keep an eye out for the next chapter. and review. _


	14. Untitled

**Chapter 16 "Untitled"**

The sun rose on a Saturday morning. The light came shining into the living room, where Richard and Barbara crashed. Richard was lying, his head on the head rest and Barbara resting next to him her head on his chest. When light hit the room the two of them stretched and yawned, Barb looked up at him.

"Hey." She said,

"Morning." was his reply she got up off of him and stretched some more.

Then he got up and off the couch. The two of them walked into the kitchen for breakfast where Alfred was already at the counter.

"Good morning, Master Dick, Miss Barbara." He said.

"Morning Alfred," They said.

They take their seat at the table, Alfred sat down their breakfasts.

"Where's Bruce?" Dick asked.

"Still in bed, last I checked." He answered.

"That's unusual." Dick joked.

"Quite." Alfred smiled.

Barbara giggled as she bit into a piece of pancake.

Over at the Wintergreen Mansion, Slade slept in his room a second later the digital clock turned 8:00 and the radio came to life, rock and roll music filled the room. Slade stirred in his covers when the music hit his ears. When he finally registered what was playing its Elvis' _"Jailhouse Rock"_ he got up pulling the black covers off himself. His bare feet hit the floor. He walked to his closet. On the walls were vintage metal signs featuring classic cars like Thunderbird, Mustang, Corvette, Camero, Bel Air, Dodge Challenger, Plymouth Road Runner, Chevy Impala, and Ford Fairlane. All of the cars from the 50s and 60s He also had metal signs of Coke, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Dr. Pepper and even some old soda brands most of us have never heard of. There were also signs of classic TV shows: _"I Love Lucy" "Andy Griffin" "Three Stooges"_ on the other side he had a poster of the legendary James Dean and his movie _"Rebel without a Cause"_. On another wall were signs that had Budweiser, Valvolene, Texaco, a Richard Petty STP racing poster; Classic novelties all throughout his room. The floor was generally a mess with discarded clothes and other junk. After changing clothes he walked back into the main part of his bedroom. Slade put on his hat a black ball cap with and orange circle and a black crescent "S". The song ended.

DJ: "Good Time Classics, 92.1 KIO Radio. And a good Saturday morning to you, it's a beautiful day to be outside cruising with the top down with that someone special. So boys if you got somebody in mind well then ya better ask her. Take you back to the hits with The Beach Boys right here on San Antholas' rock and roll station. _Good Time Classics_: 92.1 KIO Radio."

Slade hit the snooze button on his clock. It's funny how the DJ can sometimes give you ideas. Picking up his phone he began dialing.

"Sure hope she's up." He said, holding the cell phone up to his ear.

He looked out the window it was a great day outside. The cell phone ringed on Raven's nightstand. She mumbled her head buried under the covers. She sat bolt right in bed and looked over and saw her purple cell sitting next to the clock. She flipped it opened and ruffed her long hair.

"Mmm, hello?" she asked.

"Hey, sorry didn't mean to wake you up."

"Slade?" she asked sitting on the edge of her bed wearing a black lace nightgown.

"Yeah," He answered.

"What time is it?" she asked picking up her round alarm clock.

"It's a little after 8." He said.

Raven sat the clock back down and pulled her legs to the floor.

"Um, listen uh if your up to it, I was…uh. I was wondering if…you'd…like to go out today?" he asked.

"What did you say?" she asked not hearing everything he said.

Slade rubbed his brow and leaned against his windowsill.

"I was…asking if you'd want to go out sometime today?" he asked again.

"Yeah, ok." She said.

"Great." He said.

"What time do you want to meet?" she asked.

"I hadn't gotten that far." He admitted Raven chuckled softly.

"Well what you planned on doing?" she asked.

"I hadn't thought of that either." He said.

She seemed amused by this.

"I was thinking we could go for a drive, it's a nice day out." He said.

"Yeah?"

Raven asked walking over to her window and peeked through the blinds.

"All right I guess we can go out." She said turning around.

"Cool, is 10 o' clock ok?" he asked.

"That's a little early, but all right." She said.

"All right, see ya then." He said.

"Bye." She told him.

"Bye."

Slade chuckled to himself after hanging up. Raven smiled a little as she put her cell phone down.

Sometime later over at the Anders house, Kori was wide-awake and sitting at her computer emailing when she thought of something. Picking up her cell phone she called Wayne Manor Alfred answered the house phone.

"Good Morning, Wayne Residence." He said.

"Hello is Richard there?" she asked.

"May I ask whose calling?" He asked.

"Kori Anders." She said.

"No, I'm sorry he went out to the track to practice racing." Alfred said.

"Oh."

"I can give you directions to the track." He offered.

"I'd like that." She said.

A motorcycle engine revved as he raced across the dirt and jumps the first hill, he came back down the earth and went into the first turn. Dirt flying as he raced across the thoroughfare and up the next hill, the motor buzzed as he flew up the hill and flew across the great divide. Kori stood on hill opposite a guardrail as she watched him fly through the air. He came down the hill and slid into a corner and hit the throttle as he raced into the last leg of the track. He rose up on his back tire as he guns it up the hill flying higher than before.

"Whoa." Kori as she watched him soar.

He came back down to earth and skidded to a stop. The dust finally caught up with him, after it settled he removed his helmet, and got off his bike, Bruce walked up to him.

"Not bad 3 minutes 12 seconds, you're getting better at this." Bruce said.

"Thanks." Says Richard,

Kori then remembered there was a race today. The last race she went to it was incredible she had never seen anything like it. She thought back to when he did the incredible back flip that earned him the lead and helped him beat Roy Harper in the race from a few weeks back.

After he completed another lap, he rode over to the trailer. Removing his helmet

"You did well out there." came Kori's voice.

He turned and saw her standing before him.

"Thanks. When did you get here?" he asked.

Kori shrugged, "Just a few minutes ago."

Rich smiled at her she smiled back and giggled unaware that Bruce was walking behind her.

"So, who's this delightful young woman?" he asked.

She turned and faced him a little surprised.

"This is my friend Kori." Richard said.

"Hello, Mr. Wayne it's a pleasure to meet you." She said.

The Boy Billionaire smiled and extended a handshake.

"Please call me Bruce."

"Um, ok." She said.

Richard and Kori were walking down the track a minute later.

"So how many more races do you have this year?" she asked him.

"A lot, I wont be finished for a couple months. I've dropped down a few spots this season." He said.

"Is that good?" she asked.

"Well no, it means that I'm in Forth place least I'm still in the top 12." He said.

"That's good." Kori said.

"Yeah, well season's been rough. Harper's been trying to knock me out of competition last couple times." he said.

"So, then your use to it?" she asked.

He chuckled at the remark.

"I wouldn't say getting slammed into a wall is something you get use to Kor." He said.

"Sorry." She blushed and looked away.

"Heh heh, its all right, it's a rough and tumble sport. You just got to roll with the punches." He said.

"By the way, how's our baseball team been doing?" she asked.

"The Titans have been doing pretty well this season, we're 14-4. Uh, that's 14 wins and 4 losses." He explained.

"Have you started any games this year?"

"I've started about 3 games and finished out 7." He said being the Varsity pitcher.

"Can you play a full game?" she asked.

"Well that's impossible, seeing that pitchers can throw a ball well over a hundred times in just a few innings. Sometimes we don't even get a full inning." He said.

"Why's that?"

"Well, it all depends on the pitcher's performance." He explained to her patiently.

"I see that makes sense, you going to be the quarterback again this year?" she switched to another subject.

"I hope so, it's not a guarantee if there's someone better than Me." he told her.

Kori smiled "I hope you get the job."

Richard smiled back at her, "Thanks, I hope so too."

She smiled warmly back at him, Rich let out a chuckle.

About an hour later it was getting close to race time. All the other racers were at the starting gate, engines revving. In the downstairs portion of the stadium stood Kori and Richard with her leaning against the wall, Richard put his arms around her and kissed her. she locked her arms around him and kissed passionately for a few seconds. The last warning from the announcer sounded. Rich looked up and smiled at her.

"Time to get famous." He said.

"Yeah." she said kissing him, he quickly kissed her back and raced off.

"Good luck Richard!" she yelled.

"Whooo!" yelled Richard the ecstatic young athlete jumped and punched the air.

A laugh and a smile escaped her lips as she watched the guy that raced off with her heart.

The lights were blazing on the moto-x riders, as the race was about to begin. All of the racers leaned forward on their bikes revving their engines, with the board man standing on the other side of the gate holding up a sign that reads 15 seconds. Richard was close to the center of the starting gate third racer on the left in the Red racing jersey, tens of thousands of fans screaming, and Kori among the screaming fans field level first row seats.

"Racers on your mark get set…" came the official's voice over the mic.

The Board Man was holding up the 5 second sign and then runs off the track as soon as he's clear the gate drops and the race begins.

They shoot out of the starting line, with #15 Richard Grayson already in second place.

"Yeah go Richard!" Kori yelled jumping.

They launch over the first hill, and they're off again heading into the first turn, the bikes slide as they come go through the turn dirt flying everywhere. They leap over the next jump Grayson leaves the others in the dust. Turning the corner again they race up to the third jump and Grayson flies through the air, on the wings of eagles. And he takes the lead coming back down to earth. He heads into the forth jump and pulls out "the recliner" stunt while he's in mid-air, unbelieveable! Touching back down again He heads into the next series of jumps. The competition isn't far behind him. He's going to have to stay focused if he wants to win this. Over and across the hills we go, two racers have caught up with him, they're right on his tail. He flies over the next jump; he sails across for 200 feet and touches earth. Grayson stays in the lead a half lap ahead of the pack! He tears into the next turn and munching up dirt and comes flying out of there like a bat out of hell. He tears up the track at over 80 miles per hour. Makes the climb up the next hill, and sails across no problem ¾ of a lap ahead of the pack. Another high flying jump and he's catching up with them, he goes to the outside and flies right past the competition. He's like a phantom on the racetrack nobody can seem to touch him coming over the next jump he moves himself to the front half of the pack. Harper sees him and tries to ram him, Grayson jumps and Harper misses him completely taking himself out of the race. A full lap ahead of the pack and checkered flag's coming up nothing can stop him now. He laps the second place racer and jumps over the last hill, the checkered flag waves. Flying through the air, Richard raises his arm triumphantly as he soars over the finish line and wins the Yamaha 300.

Kori jumped in the air ecstatic, the stadium erupts in applause as Richard rides up to the winner's platform. The judges gave him his trophy, and a beautiful woman in a pink dress came up and kissed him on the cheek, cameras flashed around him. He lifts his cup high above his head yet another win under his belt, which bumps him up to second place in the standings.

A while later he was back at his trailer Kori runs up and hugs him, Richard picks her up and spins her around laughing.

"You did it! I knew you would." She said softly in his ear.

"Its all thanks to you." He said.

Kori giggled as they held each other in their arms.

"I better get changed out of my uniform." He said.

"OK, I'll talk to you later." She said, she kissed his cheek and walked away.

Richard smiled; she looked back over her shoulder to give him one final glance.

"See ya." He smiled.

"Bye." She said and left the stadium.

The teenaged racer gave her one last glace before he stepped into the trailer.

Later in the afternoon Slade and Raven were sitting by the lake in the park. The wind blew behind them sweeping through her long violet hair. Raven was wearing a tight black T-shirt with a purple Batgirl logo, its curved slender wings spread over her chest. She wore a mini jean skirt, black tights and sneakers. Slade was wearing a black baseball cap with an orange circle and a gray crescent "S". He wore a silver short sleeve dress-up shirt and jean shorts and a classic pair of black Converse sneakers. Slade smiled as he watched Raven observe the lake. She's so beautiful.

"Enjoying the view?" she asked.

"Oh uh, sorry." He said a slight blush came to his cheeks.

Raven couldn't help but giggle. He let out a soft chuckle and leaned back on his hands. Slade gazed at the sky; the wind blew softly through his hair. Raven smiled watching him. "Thanks for bringing me out here Slade." She said, he glanced back at her.

"Its not a problem." he replied with a smile.

"Sure is a nice day." He said.

"Yeah, its not too bad." She said as she leaned against the base of the tree.

At that same time he rested against the tree and folded his arms. The two of them glanced at the water, then at each other, then back to the lake and then back to one another again. Slade tried repositioned himself trying to get comfortable Raven was doing the same. Not paying to herself she lay her head on his shoulder, drawing herself close to him, Slade drew up his outside leg and rested his arm on his knee. Her long hair draped over his left side. He sighed and rested his head next to hers. Once again, they really don't know their doing this. Raven smiled, closing her eyes. Intertwined her fingers with his, Slade looked down at her and smiled, squeezing her hand she returned the gesture. She whispered something that wasn't even audible. Later that night the car pulled into Raven's driveway. She hugged Slade from her seat.

"I had a great time today." She said.

"I'm glad you did." He told her as he hugged her back.

"I'll see ya tomorrow." She said as she opened the door.

"OK." He said.

She climbed out of the car and shut the door, he waited till she got up to the door then he backed out of the driveway and left.

"I was thinking I'd at least get a kiss from her." he thought to himself.

He smiled and chuckled.

"Oh well, there's plenty of time for that." he said, as he headed into town where he intended to meet the guys.


	15. Hot Wings & Hot Wheels

_Author's Note: Guys, I'm so sorry I havent updated in a long time. I've been working on this chapter. And I've been busy with other things. So sorry for the long wait. I hope you like it, and I hope you have a good sense of humor. _

8 o' clock he pulled into the hometown Hooters restaurant. The famous beer and wings establishment was a 3 story tall orange, blue & white tower with a giant neon Hooters sign with they're famous owl mascot standing in the logo. Getting out of his car several girls stood by the front door in the parking lot. Really hot girls. One had blonde curly hair with curves to match and the other was devastatingly beautiful with long wavy brunette locks. He took the elevator up to the third floor dining area. Slade walked up to a pair of white double doors with the Owl mascot emblazoned on it. He pushed one of the doors open. He stepped inside a darkened dining room illuminated with red and blue neon lights streamed across the dining area.

Guys were sitting at tables eating and conversing with one another the music playing in the background. He walked up to the desk where the server stood.

"Good evening welcome to Hooters." A blonde waitress said kindly.

"Hi. I'm with Richard Grayson's party." Slade said.

"Right this way." she said taking a menu and leading him to where the guys are sitting.

Now Slade being a guy couldn't help but glance down at the little orange shorts she was wearing, just once and then he looked away. She led him to a window seat over looking downtown.

"Hey Slade!" yelled Gar.

"Slade, my man!" said Vic.

"What's up?" Rich asked.

"How ya doing?" Vic said.

"Great. Hey I heard about your win today Rich awesome job." Said Slade.

"Thanks man." His buddy said setting down a mug of Pepsi. Slade sat down next to him.

"Your server will be out in a minute." The woman said giving him his menu.

"Thanks." Said Slade.

While the guys read their menus a voluptuous African-American slowly approached their table, hips swaying side to side as she walks across the room. The guys were discussing what they were going to get. Their waitress made it to their table taking out a note pad and pencil; she looked down at her pad ready to take orders. As if rehearsed she began.

"Hi, I'm Karen I'll be your…" she stopped mid-sentence when she saw who it was.

"…Guys?" she said in bewilderment.

The boys looked up at her Vic has an _"Oh Sh!"_ look on his face as he saw his girlfriend standing before him in a Hooters uniform.

"Karen?" Richard asked.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

Rich looked back at Vic for a second and then back at Karen.

"Richard won another race today and we're celebrating." Gar piped up.

"Oh well congratulations!" she said.

"Thanks." Rich said.

"So do you know what you want to eat?" she asked him.

"Yeah, I'll have the 15 piece buffalo wings and an order of fries." Rich ordered.

"I'll have the Ranch Chicken basket." Slade said.

"I'll have a cheeseburger combo." Gar said.

"What about you Vic?" she asked.

"I'll uh… I'll have the Country Fried Steak platter." He said.

She scribbled down the order.

"And do you want your corn shucked?" she asked.

"What?" he asked.

The guys snicker. She gave them a look.

"Do you want your corn on a cob or in pieces?" she asked.

"Pieces." He said.

"Shucked, all right. Your orders will take a few minutes. And you guys are such 14 year olds." She told the boys.

She turned and left to get their orders. Vic was left red from the experience. The guys bust out laughing.

A while later, the guys were scarfing on their dinners. A slender schoolgirl with long blonde hair slowly walked across the room, her hips swinging from side to side. When suddenly the young girl noticed the group.

"Hi guys!" said Tara. The dudes all looked up at her.

"Tara, what are you doing here?" Gar asked.

"I'm filling out an application to work here." She said.

The four of them looked at her dumbstruck Richard's wing slipped from his fingers and hit his plate. Then they all started smiling and laughed.

"What's so funny?" she asked getting annoyed.

"Dude, no offense 'T'. But don't you kind of need hooters to work at Hooters?" Vic asked and laughed.

The rest of the guys joined in. Gar doubled over and pounded his fist on the table.

"OK, so my boobs are as big as some of the others." She said getting a little pissed off.

"Hey Tara I got a tire pump you can borrow if you need to."

Richard joked as he continued laughing Tara grabs a menu and hits him with it in retaliation. But they continued laughing.

"You guys are so not getting a free meal off of me." she declared and left the group.

After several minutes of laughing the gang finally settled down, Gar decides to go after her. He finds the young blonde sitting on the stairs of the second floor.

"Tara?"

He slowly approached her from behind.

"Go away Gar." She said.

"Come on, you know we didn't mean any of that we was just joking around. You know that." he said.

"I suppose you think I'm stupid trying to get a job here." She said unconvinced.

"No, we just thought it was kind of funny that you wanted to become a Hooters girl. It doesn't sound very Tara." He explained.

She looked down at her chest. He put his hand on her shoulder.

"I think you look beautiful the way you are." He assured her.

"Thanks." She said, though still sounding hurt.

"All though a little padding couldn't hurt." he added.

She shot him a mean look.

"For trying out for Hooters." He recovered.

"Besides you can always use a pair of Nerf balls." He joked.

Tara giggled, "That's very true." She said Gar grinned.

She looked at him and smiled. "Thanks." She said.

"Sure thing." He said putting his arm around her.

"You ready to go back inside?" he asked.

"Yeah." she said they got up.

"Don't worry, I'll get back at them when we play paintball tomorrow." He said.

"Shoot em once in the butt for me." she said.

"Count on it." he said. Tara giggled.

"We'll talk about you later." She said as they walked back inside.

It was a quiet night in San Antholas, up at police headquarters Commissioner Jim Gordon was sitting in his office doing some paperwork. The Commissioner has white hair with a handlebar mustache, with blue eyes and glasses and a few wrinkles on his face. He wears a white dress shirt and tie with a badge on each shoulder that reads "Commissioner. S.A.P.D." within the badge is an outline of the city skyline with the sun in the background, the bay bridge, and a star in the middle and an eagle on the outside of the badge. He was typing on a report on his computer to give to the mayor in the morning. A school picture of his daughter Barbara sat on the corner of his desk. He was smoking on his pipe as he continued typing. All was quiet until there was a loud explosion outside, his office shook and Jim was smashed into his desk.

"What the devil was that?" he spun around alarmed.

He looked out his window and could see flames and smoke coming from the street level.

"Oh no." he said softly.

The commissioner grabs the phone.

"Get me the fire department, and some officers to the center of town now!" he orders then puts down the phone and grabs his coat and runs out the door.

Once he got into the street he could see the blaze, a local business had been hit, but by what? He heard the screeching of tires and looked up to see a large purple automobile speed off, and then he heard the maniacal laughter of the Clown Prince of Crime.

"Joker." He said.

A few minutes later the Bat Signal shines brightly in the night sky.

Back at Hooters, things were going on as usual. Until one patron who was sitting close to the window looked out and saw the Bat Signal. It didn't take long until everyone noticed. Customers and servers lined the windows looking at it.

"Rich, you got to see this." Said Vic, he turned and looks back at the table and he was gone.

"Richard?" he said.

The stairwell door flew open and Richard came running out. Gar and Tara stood up.

"Where you going?" Gar asked.

"Just out." Richard said as he ran between them down the flight of stairs.

"I'm still mad at you Richard." Tara says.

"We'll talk about it later." He said quickly as he runs down the next flight of stairs opening and closing the door behind him.

"He's a little weird." Tara said with her arms folded.

Richard ran out the front door of Hooters and quickly ran to his car. Races the engine and speeds off into the night. Coming down the street, the traffic light turns red and he blows right through it with the blare of horns behind him. He dials up his cell phone.

"I saw the signal. What happened?" he asked.

"Joker's back in town he just hit the City Center Bank." Batman said from inside the Batmobile.

The Jokermobile raced down the street at 100mph. Richard saw him bolt past from the adjacent street.

"Batman, I just saw him he's headed for the eastside of town." Richard (not Robin) said on his communicator. The Batmobile raced down the street after him. The Joker let out his trademark cackle as he fired a pair of rockets. The batmobile evaded the missiles as they struck nearby the corner of two buildings just behind them. The blast ignited the street, the heat coming off the Batmobile as it narrowly escaped Joker's attack.

Batman retaliated and fired a rocket at the Jokermobile, it turned the corner as the rocket went past and blew-up the side of a building. The Joker was in the open once more as he spun around to face the Batman. Batmobile came out of the alleyway and came to a halt. Joker revved his car as he said something to Batman.

"You know Batsy, we've been at this for a while. I've already vested you once with my Jokermobile." He said patting the hood.

"You may have gotten lucky one time Joker, but that one chance is all you'll ever get." Batman said.

"Tell ya what Batsy, why don't you put your money where your mask is and we'll settle who has the better car once and for all?" Joker said.

"The last one to make it out in one piece wins." His foe replied.

"Your on costumed creep!" Joker remarks and getting back in the driver's seat, he revs the engine to max. Batman does the same.

_Vroom! Vroom! Vroom-vroom-vroooom! Vroom! Vroooom! Vroom! _

Joker throws the hammer down and guns it, tires squealing as he charges the Batmobile. At the same time the Batmobile guns it at full blast and charges the Jokermobile. Joker grins as two Gatlin Guns rise up from the front fenders and fire. The Batmobile switched to armor mode and powered on through with bullets blazing. The turbine on the front of the Batmobile began to give off a light blue glow with the turbine humming as it powered up.

"What the heck?" Joker said perplexed at this.

The batman pressed a button and a blue laser beam shot out of the turbine headed straight for the Joker. He swerved to the far right dodging the laser blast. It hit an empty hot dog car on a street corner, blowing it and a mailbox, and some newspaper dispensers sky high. The ball of fire illuminated the night sky.

"I don't remember _that_ being in there!" Joker exclaimed.

"Not afraid are you?" Batman remarked.

"Of course not!" he said half-yelling. "Your not the only one with armor." Joker pressed a button and soon his car converted to its armored form.

It didn't take Joker long to get his head back in the game. He spun his wheels and continued the battle with his two Gatlin Guns and rocket launchers mounted. He opened fire on the street avenger, attempting to penetrate its armor. The Batmobile fired another energy ray this time getting a direct hit. There was an explosion after it hit. The Jokermobile seemingly vanished in a ball of fire. But 2 seconds later he emerged from the hellish fire without a scratch and continued striking the Batmobile. Explosions and streaks of flames come off the Batmobile's armor as the Dark Knight charged onward and returning fire. He unleashed his Joker bombs and they rolled out into the street and went off like little grenades. Batman had to swerved to a stop and the opposite direction. If any of them went under the Batmobile it would be game over for Batman. That was how the Joker had defeated him the last time. He fired his laser once more hitting the driver's side. The explosion pushed the Jokermobile sideways up the street. Joker felt the force of the blast as it was driving him back with sparks flying around him. The joker growled furiously.

"Time to finish this." Batman said as he stepped hard on the gas, tires squealing and charges up the street at 100 miles per hour. Joker follows suit in this deadly game of Chicken. Joker fired his missiles and the Batmobile returns fire with it turbine ray with explosions all around them from the attacks. Their about to crash into each other at the last second Joker loses his nerve and serves to the right. Batman takes advantage and runs the Jokermobile up the sloping front fender of the Batmobile tearing apart the bottom of the Jokermobile, it rides up on two wheels and flips over several times, crushing the car and sends parts and debris flying in all directions. After tumbling 8 times the Jokermobile comes to a rest on its wheels, what's left of them anyway. The Jokermobile's top is crushed; the sides of the car are smashed and winkled with steam billowing from the destroyed engine. The driver's door falls off and the Joker tumbled out of it backwards.

Batman walks over to the discombobulated Joker who has no idea what just happened. Joker is on the ground in the sitting up position. With little stars going around his head and his tongue hanging out to one side, his hair's messed up, his suit is torn up and he still has a hold of the steering wheel and he's singing.

"The wheels on the bus go round and round. Round and round. Round and round. The wheels on the bus go round and round all through the town. Beep. Beep. Oooh." He fell back and loses consciousness. Batman and Commissioner Gordon stand over him.

Later the Joker is put in a police transport van and the Jokermobile is hauled off. Batman and Commissioner Gordon stood on the corner.

"Thanks for helping us again." Gordon says.

"Hopefully, we wont have to deal with him again for a while." The Dark Knight says.

"You and me both." his friend says, he turns his head and sees that Batman has already left.

The commissioner sighs and turns to his crew. "All right, let's get this area cleared. I haven't got all night." he orders his crew.

From an alley Richard starts his Corvette and leaves, having watched the whole thing. Back at the mansion, Richard walks into the living room where he finds Bruce watching the ten o clock news, where Batman and Joker was the top story. They watched the replay of the battle and the Jokermobile's rollover crash.

"That was a bang up job, you did tonight." Richard commented. Bruce smirked, "You should have heard what he had to say after it." Bruce says.

At that same time they showed the Joker sitting on the ground with his steering wheel in hand singing.

"The wheels on the bus go round and round. Round and round. Round and round…."

A glass is thrown at the TV in the city jail. The prisoners turn and look angrily at the person who thrown it, none other than the Joker. A large black inmate walked over to him and grabs him by the collar of his prison uniform.

"Looks like we have ourselves a sore loser. What's wrong clown boy, couldn't get the last laugh?" he taunted.

Joker grabs the inmate's wrist and squeezes it. A cracking sound could be heard, the inmate started to groan in pain as the Joker tightened his grip. He grabbed the man by his shirt and throws him across the room where he hits his head against the wall. Joker dusts off his hands.

"Anyone else, care to make a joke?" he asked.

The prisoners all turn away from him and face the front. The Joker sat back down on the bench in the back of the cell.

"I'm going to get you for this Batman, if it's the last thing I do." He says sneering.

_AN: So, what did you think of it? I was more than a little unsure about this chapter. I hope you guys liked it. Tell me what you think of it. Thanks to everyone for being so patient. I'm really sorry about the hold up. _

_Review. _

_The Green Gallant_


	16. House of Terror, Part 1

Chapter 16 

"The House of Terror, Part 1"

Monday evening after school Raven received a text message from Richard. She text him back that she was on her way and went out the door. Over at Kori's house she received the same message, returned it and was out the door. Gar, Tara and Vic got the very same text, got in their cars and were on they're way. 6 miles outside of town lay an old abandoned institution. Rich and Slade sat in the old gravel parking lot leaning against the hoods of their cars talking. When they saw a pair of headlights, Kori pulled in her purple Pontiac and parked off to the side. She walked over to them.

"Glad you made it Kor." Richard greeted. She smiled.

"Well, I wasn't about to pass this up. So where are the others?" she asked.

"I sent out the text message a couple minutes ago. Everyone said they'd be here." Rich said.

"I hope so. I wouldn't want to do this alone." She said.

Richard smiled, "Don't worry there's nothing in there that can get you." He said.

"Yeah, we're just doing this cause there's nothing else to do." Slade told her.

It wasn't long before four more cars pulled up. Gar, Tara, Vic and Raven emerged from their vehicles and walked over to them. Gar high fives Rich and Slade.

"You guys ready to do this?" asked Rich.

"Yeah." said Gar.

Bring it on." Vic said.

"I guess I'm ready." Tara said

Gar turns back to her.

"Don't worry Tara, _I'll_ protect you." He says proudly thumbing his chest.

Vic walked up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"And I got your back in case he bails." He said. They all laughed, Gar gave Vic a sordid look.

"All right so after we all go in there, we split up and see if this place is really haunted. We meet back out here in an hour. If anybody doesn't come back…too bad." Richard joked. The friends all laughed all though some of them were a little nervous.

"You guys ready?" Slade asked.

"Yeah!" went several of them.

"Let's do this." He said.

They made their way up the long walkway to the old Gomorrah Estate. A decrepit White two story building that was constructed back in the 1890s according to legend its haunted by evil spirits.

They walked up the stairs past two stone lions guarding its entrance. They were cracked and damaged with some chunks of stone missing from the body towards the hind legs and were missing some teeth. There was a chain and a padlock on the door.

"Maybe we shouldn't." Kori said worriedly.

"Come on Kori what would be the fun in coming here if didn't?" Richard asked.

"I'm with Kori on this one. They want us to stay out for a reason." Raven said.

"Look we just jimmy the lock, we get in we get out and fix it when we leave." Slade told them sounding confident.

"It's no big deal guys." Vic reasoned with them.

Rich picked the lock and pulled off the chain, Slade and Vic help push the double doors open. Richard shined a flashlight.

"Come on." He said and went in, followed by Slade, Vic & Gar.

The girls sighed and went in after them. Once inside two more flashlights came on and they scanned the first room. They room seemed pretty empty. White walls with the paint peeling off and a small wooden table and chair. Slade led the group and they journeyed into the next room. The door creaks open he shines his flashlight in the living room. The room looked dismal in the pale moonlight. An old white piano sat to one side of the room next to the window. There were some faded pictures of family on the crimson walls of the room, in the far corner was a duty bookshelf filled with antique volumes. They ventured into the room; the floor creaks and squeals as they walked in. they did a sweep of the room with their flashlights seeing as much as they could of the room. They gathered around Richard in the center of the room.

"All right, this looks like as good of a place to start. We'll split up into groups and explore one of three sections of the house. Gar & Tara you go with Vic and explore the basement. Slade and Raven you guys check out the east section of the house. Kori and I will take the west. We'll meet back here in a while. If anybody runs into trouble use the walkie-talkies we gave you. Is everyone cool with this?" Rich asked.

They all looked at each other and seemed to agree. Gar felt better knowing that he was teaming with Vic. Tara was relieved too, even though neither one would admit to the other they was scared. Slade and Raven smiled at each other knowing they'd have some time together. Kori smiled at Rich who smiled back at her.

"All right so we meet back here in half an hour so we can go upstairs and explore that part of the house. We should be done in about an hour or so." Richard said.

"So what are we waiting for?" said Vic standing behind Gar and Tara.

"See ya in half an hour guys." Slade said as he and Raven begin to head of.

"Later." Richard said.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Vic joked to both couples.

"Yeah, Like what?" Slade quipped, everyone laughed. It was soon that, they went their separate ways.

Slade and Raven were in the eastern side of the house a few minutes later. They walked across a large room that was illuminated by the moonlight. They held hands as they walked over to a wall on the far side of the room. Raven leaned against the wall. She looked up into his eyes and smiled. He smiled back at her cupping her cheek and stroking it gently. He had a gentle expression on his face. She trusted him; he leaned forward and kissed her lips. She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him back. His hands journeyed down to her shoulders as they kissed deep and passionately. She wrapped her arms around his neck. His hand traveled down the gentle contour of her side and touched the side of her stomach. He lifted up part of her shirt and felt her soft stomach. She giggled as he touched her. He smiled and brought his hand around the small of her back while they continued kissing. Raven leaned more into their kiss; he slid his left hand down the side of her body and up the side of her shirt. Raven broke the kiss again to take time to breathe. They smiled at each other.

"I love you." She said.

"I love you too." He said.

He stroked the base of her back, she giggled softly. She felt his hand go up her back.

"Ok, now that's where I draw the line." she says putting her hand behind her back to grab his from under her shirt.

"Well, can't blame a guy for trying." He joked. She smiled and kissed him.

"Ok." She said with a flip of her hair. She felt it come undone. There was a feeling of release as she felt her bra loosen around her and the straps came down underneath her shirt. Then suddenly there came a crash. They looked around alarmed. Raven clutched her bra.

"What was that?" she said.

"I don't know." He said. His eyes scanning the dimly lit room and found saw a broken lamp lying on the ground. He sighed in relief.

"Must have been the wind." He said at that time they heard a low growling sound.

"Slade…I don't think that's the wind." She said as she got her bra back on. Slade had his back facing her protecting her from…whatever they just heard.

Down in the basement Vic, Gar and Tara were walking down a passageway with Vic leading the troupe. Gar and Tara followed close behind him with Tara bringing up the rear. The basement silent as a tomb all that could be heard was the dripping of water from the pipes above them.

"So do you think there's anything down here?" Gar asked breaking the near unbearable silence.

"I hope not." Tara said a hint of worry in her tone.

"Oh there's something down here all right. _He_ lives down here." Vic said.

"He who?" Gar asked nervously only to walk into Vic's back.

His friend turned around to face them as if shocked.

"Ya'll never heard of…The Crucifier?" he asked.

"Crucifier?" they repeated nervously.

Vic looked at them grimly.

"In the late 60s San Antholas was plagued with a serial killer. His name was Solomon Gomorrah. A sociopath homicidal maniac lived here in this very house. In the hills he would lie in wait of drivers that stranded along the highway at night. He would wait until they got out of the car. Then where nobody else was around attack them from behind with his butcher knife and stab them in the back. He finishes the victim off by slitting their throat…" Vic told them.

Tara gulped clutching her throat.

"And then what?" Gar asked.

"He would drag the body away nail them to a makeshift cross. Several days later they would be found not to far from the road for all to see. His specialty was young blonde women. The murders went unsolved for several years. In the late 1970s Solomon was captured and sentenced to death. They say that his spirit haunts the very house we're standing in." Their friend concluded.

Gar and Tara stood there in fright.

"I'm just messing with you guys. There's no such thing as the Crucifier…or is there?" he said.

"Vic!" the two of them said annoyed. He couldn't help but laugh.

"Besides there's no such thing as ghosts or monsters." Vic said. At that same time a wall burst open and something grabbed Tara and pulled her through the other side. "Ahhhhh!"

"TARA!" Vic and Gar screamed and grabbed her arms. Something had a hold of her legs and was trying to pull her through the wall. Tara screamed hanging on to her friends for dear life.

"Don't let go please!" she begged.

Vic and Gar pulled as hard as they could to free her. She was being pulled back through the wall. She screamed terrified for her life as she could feel its cold clammy hands on her legs.

"Help me! Please! Help me!" she screamed.

"We're not letting go of you Tara!" Vic yelled pulling harder on her arm.

The thing that had a hold of her pulled harder she screamed out Gar's name.

They used all their might to try and pull her out. Both planted their feet firmly against the wall. She felt like she was going to be ripped apart. She screamed in pain.

"Gar now!" yelled Vic and together with all their strength they gave one last pull and free her from the creature. Her legs slipped out of the hole and the three of them fell to the ground. Tara held on to Gar sobbing uncontrollably. Vic instantly got up and smashed his way through the wall. He couldn't believe what he saw. There before him stood a man, but not just any man…Solomon Gomorrah.

Victor stood in shock before the living nightmare himself. Solomon had the appearance of a dead man. He was a tall and skinny man, with gray skin he was bald, and his eyes were sunk in with black outlining them. And all he wore was a pair of blue jean overalls.

"You…it's impossible it couldn't be you. You can't be here!" Vic said stunned.

Solomon didn't speak; he took out his weapon a sickle and chain. Vic's eyes narrowed into slits.

"Your going to pay for what you did to my friend." He said.

"My…she's my friend too." Solomon said in a deep soulless voice that would send chills down your spine.

Vic turned his head to where his friends were.

"Gar get Tara out of here!" he ordered into the next room.

"But what about you?"

"I'll handle this guy. Get the others away from here."

"Right." Gar said as he picked her up in his arms and took off down the hall. Tara could only watch with tears in her eyes as they fled the scene.

Victor and Solomon star each other down. Vic's eyes turned into slits as he clinched his fists. Solomon swings his chain sickle ready to fight.

"Your going to wish you never met me." Vic told him.

"Bring it on." Said Solomon he charged Vic with his weapon swinging above him. Vic let out a fierce battle cry as he charged back.

Solomon threw his weapon Vic dodged it. he slings his weapon towards Vic's chest he narrowly misses it, he swings the blade diagonally Vic jumps back and charges with his fist flying at him. And nails him in the chest knocks the zombie back a few steps. Vic sees that his forearm had been cut. He cradles his right arm as the zombie attacks again. He swings the sickle this time headed for his head he dodged, the weapon hits the stone wall behind him. Vic sees an opening and nails him hard in the face. He delivers another punch with his left and kicks him in the chest. Solomon fell to the floor. He recovers and slings his weapon across the ground slicing Vic's ankle on his right boot. He cried out in pain and went down to one knee. Solomon takes the back of his sickle the handle part and struck him across the face with it. Vic goes down.

Solomon stands over the injured teen, Vic surprises him with an uppercut punch. He drew back his left fist and hit him hard in the chest again Solomon flew through the air and slams into the stone wall. Vic stands there proving that he has plenty of fight left in him.

Back upstairs in the eastern side of the house. Slade and Raven were cornered by some strange beast. Slade stood guarding Raven as the creature came into the light. For the first time they could see it. It was a gargoyle. The creature walked on four legs, had the wings of a bat with a tail and a face of a monster. The gargoyle growled as it neared closer to them. The two got back against a wall. Slade held a rod as a weapon, he had to protect Raven.

"Richard we got big trouble we need help!" Slade said on his walkie-talkie.

"Where are you?" Richard asked.

He and Kori were back in the western end of the house. When sometime crashed through the wall to attack them. It was another zombie. Kori screamed in fright. Rich spun around to see this new foe. At that same time Gar's distress call came in on the walkie-talkie.

"Richard, Slade its Vic he's in trouble! We were attacked by this thing I don't know what it was!" he said.

"Richard where are you?" Slade said.

The walkie-talkie was lying on the ground as Richard was being attacked by the other zombie. He tried his best to keep it away from Kori. The zombie hit Richard in the chest and sent him flying across the room he crashed into a bookcase and they fell down on top of him.

"Richard!" Kori screamed.

"You guys, what's going on up there? Slade? Richard? Is anyone there? Come in!" Gar pleaded.

The gargoyle had cornered Slade and Raven. Vic was losing to Solomon he stumbled back with massive cuts all across his arms and some on his chest. Richard struggled trying to get to his feet to protect Kori.

"This wasn't suppose to happen." Said Richard.


	17. House of Terror, Part 2

Chapter 17

"The House of Terror, Part 2"

"_This wasn't supposed to happen." _

"_Get out of here I can handle this guy." _

"_Richard, Slade its Vic he's in trouble…"  
_

"Where are you guys? Come in…" "We're in trouble we need help…" 

"_Richard!" _

Richard groaned he been trapped under a bookcase. "Kori…" he said disoriented.

"Richard!!!"

He clinched his fist anger had built up inside him. He could feel it racing through him. Rage had given him strength. The zombie had a hold of Kori and was beginning to drag her away; Richard burst out from under the bookcase and attacked the zombie with a flying kick, Kori dodged in time. He was kicked in the face and hit the ground. Richard landed on one knee.

"Kori are you all right?"

"Yeah." She said scared.

"Go find the others." He told her.

"But…"

"Go!" he yelled.

The zombie tackled him knocks him back several steps and pinned him to the ground. Using his powerful legs he thrusts the dead man off of him. He kicked his legs back and pushed himself off the ground and onto his feet the zombie was already up, it screeched at him. Richard assumed his fighting stance as the monster charged him again at lighting speed. It lashed with its claws at him with amazing speed. Richard dodged the attacks as best he could. He was back stepping with every wild swing of the monster's arms. He couldn't find an opening from which to attack. Rich doesn't know how much longer he can keep this up. The zombie spun around with one swing of its arm Rich saw and opening and attacked. He used a powerful sidekick into the zombie's waist and knocked it back a couple steps. The zombie screeched at him again. This time Richard went on the offensive and began attacking it with a series of kicks. The zombie backed away with each attack Richard threw at it. After kicking at it several times he managed to get in a hit. Then he changed it up with a punch to the chest and then a second punch with his left, changed it again with a side kick the zombie went down to one knee clutching its chest. Richard spun and kicked it in the face knocking it on its back. Richard flipped and brought heel of his boot down on the zombie's chest. The monster screeched in pain. Rich spun and elbow dropped on its head. The zombie blindly swung its arm at him. He quickly got away from it. When he was a safe distance away from it he quickly got back into fighting stance. Kori stood there in disbelief. Was this really the same Richard she knew and loved?

The zombie stumbled to its feet still clutching its forehead. The zombie looked to its left and took a lance that a suit of armor was holding.

"Oh crap." Said Richard, this being especially bad news considering he's unarmed.

Kori stood their hands clasped to her chest fearing for his life. The zombie spun the lance around and points it at Richard. Kori gulped.

"I really wish I had my Utility Belt right now." He said under his breath.

The zombie spun the lance pointed it at him and charged. Just at it reached him he dodged and grabs the shaft just behind the blade and roundhouse kicks him in the chest. The zombie stumbles back but had a firm grip on the handle. They're deadlocked as they struggle to rip it out of one another's hands. Richard grits his teeth and growled in malice. The zombie screeched back at him and kicked him in the chest to repay for the blow from earlier. Richard held fast to the weapon. He kicked the zombie back in the side. The zombie then returned the blow with one to the stomach. Richard doubled over a bit with his free arm the zombie decked across him across the face with the back of his arm, while he was off balance he twisted the weapon knocking Rich to the floor. With the lance back in its possession he points the blade at the Teen Wonder and thrusts it. Richard rolled away as the lance stabbed the wooden floor. Richard tumbled over and rose up to one knee facing his adversary. The zombie turns and faced him showing its teeth.

He looked out of the corner of his eye and saw Kori still standing there.

"I told you to get out of here." He scolds.

"No I can help!" she tells him.

He looks back and sees the zombie running at him.

"Kori throw me a weapon!" he yelled.

She grabs a shield and tosses it, the flying weapon nearly takes off the top of his head, he ducks and the zombie jumps back alarmed. The shield ricochets off the corner wall.

"Are you trying to kill me before he gets the chance?" he yells.

"Sorry, I'm so sorry!" she tells him.

The zombie attacks him again trying to impale him with the lance Richard jumps back, then steps on the blade holding it down the zombie pulls on the shaft, Rich jumps with a spinning kick to the head and gets away while its disoriented. Running past it he dives and picks up the shield. The zombie already stands in front of him and thrusts its weapon, Rich blocks with his shield, when it struck the force sends Rich sliding across the floor on his back.

"Whoa!" he came to a rest on the other side of the room.

He looks and sees the bent metal and the hole in his shield. The zombie comes at him again. He blocks again with the shield puncturing another hole in it. The zombie swung the lance sideways knocking it out of Richard's hands. He grabs the boy by the collar of his shirt and looks him in the eye. Rich drew back his fist and punched him in the side of the face, and then again with his left fist and finally kicked him in the chest tearing away part of his shirt as he broke free from the zombie. Richard landed on one knee and looked at his opponent menacingly the zombie was knocked to the floor, with a piece of the boy's shirt still in his hand. The teen hero assume martial arts stance for the last time.

"Let's finish this." He says takes off his leather jacket.

"Richard!" she threw him a sword and sheath. He caught the sword and unsheathes it.

And stands in a heroic pose. Sideways stance, his legs spread apart, his left leg bended his right leg forward facing the zombie. The sword gripped in his right hand held horizontally and his left arm drawn back in a fist. He gave the zombie a determined stare his eyes narrowed into slits.

The zombie returned the stare standing straight and tall with its lance pointing straight up. Richard changed his stance pointing his sword at him ready to strike. He ran towards the zombie as full burst. The zombie charges back. Richard jumps high in the air and takes his sword in both hands holding it high above his shoulder. The zombie lifted his lance to impale him. At the last second Kori threw another shield this time breaking the lance. The look of shock on the zombie's face as Richard came down and cut through him diagonally with one clean swipe of his blade. The zombie split in two and both halves fell to the floor. Rich lowered his sword standing before his fallen foe. Kori runs over to him.

"Richard!"

"Hey thanks for the assist. You really came in handy back there." he tells her.

She blushed. "Yeah sure." She said.

"Come on, let's go help the others." He says.

"Ok." She said and they ran off together leaving the sliced zombie in the room.

Back in the basement Vic was still fighting with the other zombie, Solomon Gomorrah. He had multiple gashes on his arms and chest; blood seeped from his cuts. Still on his feet he struggled to pull himself up to face Solomon. The murderous zombie stood in front of him with his bloody chain sickle resting against his right shoulder. The homicidal corpse smiled. Vic fought to catch his breath, as it escaped his mouth in shallow bursts.

"You think…_pant-pant_…you have me beaten? Think…_pant_… again." Vic said exhausted.

"Foolish child, I have already won. Except your fate and submit to it." Solomon says.

"I don't think so, I'm just getting started!" Vic said tearing off his shirt to face his enemy.

"Time to take it to the next level!" he says.

"Hiyah!" he pounds his fists together, in an instant the room in shrouded in blinding light. Solomon shields his eyes from the burning light. He opens one eye to gaze into the blazing bluish-white flare. He saw Vic's body transform, but into what he couldn't tell. He turned away painfully from the searing light. The light fades and before he could look he was met with a hard punch, harder than any human can deliver. Solomon crashed into the wall. When he looked up he saw his opponent in his transformed state. His body has turned completely to stone.

Solomon got to his feet, he laughed at the spectacle.

"And I thought this was going to be too easy." He said, picking up his chain sickle.

"You think your hot stuff picking on a bunch of defenseless kids. But this is where it ends. Your going to wish you never met me." Stone said darkly.

"Brave words." Said Solomon.

"Let's see you try and stop this!" said Stone.

He charges down the hallway at full speed. Solomon spun his sickle above his head and throws it. The blade cut across Stone's chest sparks flew in the air; he drew back his fist and drove it into Solomon's face. He nailed him in the stomach with his right. Stone let loose a flurry of left and right hook punches to the zombie's face. His head jerked forcefully with each blow, each time knocking him a step back. Stone threw in a couple of hits to his stomach before refocusing on the head. His rage and anger being channeled through his granite fists. The zombie's head snapped back and forth with each power driven hit. He sent another hard jab into Solomon's stomach he lurched forward doubling over under his opponent's fist. Solomon coughed up some crude red fluid, which appeared to be blood. He looked up at Stone.

"I'll kill you all." He says.

"Shut your face." Stone said.

He uppercuts him and sends him flying through the air, he lands on his neck and rolled backwards laying face down. Solomon groaned as he struggled to get to his feet. Stone cracks his knuckles getting ready for the next attack. The zombie looked up at him with murder in his eyes he took off in from a sprinter's stance, picking up his chain sickle and races towards him twirling his weapon. He brings his weapon down in a diagonal slash. Sparks flew from Vic's chest. He swung at him again horizontally. Stone went back a few steps as Solomon grabbed the handle of his blade and brought it down in a vertical strike. Vic jumped back then lunged forward punching him in the face. Solomon recovered and swung at him again. Stone grabs the weapon, picks up Solomon up across his shoulder spins and threw him back at the wall. Solomon crashes into the wall, a plume of dust burst from wall as he fell to the floor. He groans, looks up sees his own weapon flying towards him. The sickle pierced between the back of his neck and his left shoulder blade. He felt it tear across his shoulder as Stone ripped it out of him. Leaving a gigantic gash around the base of his neck and shoulder. He cried out in tremendous pain as he twisted around from the force of his weapon that lay discarded on the floor. The next second he looked up and saw Stone running toward him with his right fist drawn back it would be the last thing he ever saw. He punched in the left side of Solomon's face. His head was smashed into the wall destroying it utterly.

The headless corpse of Solomon slid down against the wall slumped to one side as Stone stood over him, its over. The rock man breathed a sigh of relief and turned away from it.

He reconnected his power rings and was transformed back into his human form.

Exhausted and bleeding, Vic leans against the wall as he leaves the battlefield. Two down one to go. Back upstairs in the eastern half of the building. Slade battled the dreaded gargoyle. Slade stood in a defensive stance holding his staff diagonally. He's breathing raggedly with three giant gashes over his left side. Raven looks in shock at his serious injuries and he's still willing to fight. He yells as he turns and points the staff right at the monster. The gargoyle let out a low growl, eyes glowing red as it readied itself for another strike. Slade runs and jumps in the air his staff held high above his head.

"Haaaaaaaaaaa!" he yelled ferociously.

He came down on the monster ready to strike; the gargoyle knocks him away with a brush of its arm. Slade crashed into a pile of boxes and collective junk.

"Slade!" Raven cried out.

The demon turned its attention toward Raven as it started towards her. She backed up trying to keep her distance from it. Slade yelled as he emerged from his spot and jumped high in the air with the same attack only from behind. He slammed the steel rod into the gargoyle's back. The monster roared and whipped around to bite him. Slade jumped back while he's on the gargoyle's back. He punched it in the eye. It shrieked and recoiled in pain. It spins around trying to throw him off his back. Slade grabbed its wings; little did he know he was in for the wildest ride of his life.

The gargoyle growled and started thrashing him around trying to eject the unwanted rider from its back. But Slade held tight to its wings, when this didn't work the gargoyle started bucking him like a bronco in the rodeo.

"Hang on tight Slade!" Raven called.

"What does it…whoa…look like I'm doing?!" he yelled back.

The gargoyle spun around in a whirlwind bucking and kicking faster and harder than before, he could feel the fluids in his stomach sloshing about, and every organ in his body jolt in pain. He didn't know how much longer he could keep this up. The creature roared and ran over to the wall.

"Oh crap." Slade said as he knew what was going to happen next.

The gargoyle smashed its left side into the wooden wall and ran along side it ripping it apart and Slade along with it. He buried his head into the creature's neck as he felt broken boards, rusted nails and debris plow over him. He groaned in excruciating pain as it grinded him into the wall. He felt his grip slipping as it came out of the wall. The creature flapped its massive wings and took flight. Slade's grip was weakening, he mustered all the strength he had and held on. He looked up and saw a ceiling truss headed towards him, the creature flew under it while Slade crashed into it along his abdomen. He fell from the beast and landed on a wooden table breaking his fall as he crashed to the ground. Raven covered her mouth in shock. The gargoyle flew around the room and lands on the ground not too far from him. Raven rushed over to Slade's side dropping to her knees.

"Slade are you all right? Answer me!" she said.

He groaned painfully, moves his head slightly. He's still conscious. The gargoyle growled as it stalked nearer to them. She stroked the side of Slade's face. He risked his life protecting her; she closed her eyes and stood up resolutely now it was her turn to protect him. She turned and faced the monster, with a deathly glare.

"Nobody hurts my friends." She said.

From the outside of the mansion we hear her shout her mantra.

"Azarath Metrion Zenthos!" BOOM!

An explosion rocks the upper part of the mansion, the four friends stumble to the floor outside the observatory.

"What the hell was that?" asked Richard.

"Come on!" said Kori.

They rushed down the hallway, it wasn't too far. Richard kicked down the wooden double doors. "Raven!" he yelled.

Her friends couldn't believe their eyes. Before them stood a gargoyle, it was massive in size. The beast towered over them. Whatever that explosion was must have been caused by it, they figured. The beast roared at Raven who was protecting the fallen Slade. Richard charged in unsheathing his newly acquired sword and jumped in the air. Holding his blade high above him as did previous with the zombie. He slashed the gargoyle across the chest. But it knocked him aside he landed in the corner of the room.

The others immediately assumed defensive stance. Richard came bursting out, again took flight with his sword at his side. He let out an angry yell as he sailed through the air. Flipped forward and slashed the beast's face with his sword. It roared in pain as he landed, then sliced its metacarpal tendon on its front foot. Again the beast backhands him and sent him flying several feet before skidding across the floor on his back.

"Come on!" said Gar.

Kori, Tara and Gar were about to charge in when Slade ran past them coming around from the outside. "I got this one!" He yelled.

Slade ran towards the gargoyle at full burst with his rod in hand he jumps high in the air.

"Remember me?" he yelled as he came down on the beast, with a mighty swing of his staff he struck across the monster's face.

Slade lands safely on the ground, the gargoyle staggered to the side and roared at him and swung its massive arm at him. Slade back flipped out of harm's way and landed a safe distance away. The gargoyle came after.

"Yeah come on, it started with me and it's going to end with Me." he said.

It snapped his jaws at him Slade quickly leapt back. He took the staff in both hands and began to fight back smacking its head with both ends of his staff in quick rapid strikes. He spins and kicks it in the side of the head. The gargoyle shrieked. Slade threw a cycle of roundhouse kicks. The gargoyle staggered back and forth from the attacks. Slade jumped spun sideways in the air and brought his heel down on top of the monster's crown. The force of the power kick sent the demon crashing to the floor. Slade landed on one knee and gazed at the creature from over his shoulder. The gargoyle groaned in pain as it struggled to get up. Slade rose to his feet and turned back to face the monster, which was still trying to get up.

His friends looked at him stunned. In one corner of the room Richard managed to pick himself up off the floor using his sword for a crutch. At that second Slade felt a tremendous pain from his wounded side. He clutched his side in pain, but still ready to face the gargoyle if needed to.

"I think we better get out of here." Richard said.

"Right." Said Kori.

"Slade let's go!" yelled Gar.

But Slade only stood there.

"Get out of there!" Tara yelled at him.

The gargoyle had recovered and was beginning to get rise. Kori ran out grabbed him by his shoulder and dragged him back to them. The others had gathered at the doorway and had ushered themselves out with Slade in tow. Raven got under his right arm and helped Kori as they raced down the hall. They heard the menacing gargoyle growl from the other room. They picked up the pace and ran down the hall out of the western corridor. When they were a safe distance away they set him down on the floor. Slade groaned painfully, he was in rough shape judging from the deep gashes in his left side. He was breathing heavily.

"You idiot, now you're torn up worse than you before! There's no telling what you could have done to yourself." Raven scolded him.

"Hey, somebody had to watch out for you guys." He said half-jokingly.

While they were talking Richard tried to reach Victor on his walkie-talkie.

"Victor this is Rich come in. do you read me?" he waited for his friend's response.

After several seconds of radio silence he finally responded.

"Yeah, I hear you Rich. Where are you guys? Are Gar and Tara with you?" Vic asked.

"We're right here Vic did you beat him?" asked Gar on his walkie-talkie.

"Yeah, he wont be bothering us anymore." Vic said.

"Who?" asked Rich.

"I'll tell you later." Vic said.

Rich, Kori, Slade and the others heard the gargoyle's roars. And they immediately took off.

"Vic, meet us outside we're getting the hell out of here!" Rich barked into his walkie-talkie.

Before long the 7 friends ran out the front door of the old estate and ran to their cars. They speed off leaving the door to the house wide open. Their cars raced back to town to get as far away from that place as possible and never looked back.

Later that night they were sitting in a hospital room together. Slade and Vic had both been injured during the fight and had received treatment. Both were bandaged up sitting in their beds across from each other with Richard, Kori, Gar, Tara, & Raven sitting between them.

"Guys, you know we were real lucky tonight. It's a wonder any of us got out." Richard said.

"We got in too deep and for what? Some Halloween thrills?" said Slade.

"Any one of us could have been killed tonight. I didn't think I'd make it out of it." Vic confessed.

"I was really scarred tonight." Said Kori.

"You're not the one that was pulled through a wall by a dead homicidal maniac." Said Tara.

"Whatever kept us alive in there…it was watching out for us." Said Raven.

"Well, I vote that we never go anywhere near that place again." Said Gar.

"Yeah." they all said in agreement.

Back at the haunted mansion in levels below the house laid a coffin. The gargoyle had entered into the chamber. Not very far from it was a scepter with a large red crystal. The demon's eyes glowed red as it gazed upon the scepter. Taking it from its place, the monster laid it over the casket. The crystal glowed an eerie red and the ominous aura covered the tomb. The lid to the casket had opened and a figure arose from it standing upright though not entirely reanimated. It was a young man with short white hair, dressed in black. His eyes opened, they were naturally red. Taking the scepter the dead man was brought to life. The gargoyle bowed before its master as he rose above the casket that once held him.

"Finally, after all these years I am free. Let those who imprison me feel my wrath. For the reign of Ryan Trigon will return to this world." He said.


	18. Calm Before the Storm

Author's Note: I'm really sorry about the wait you guys. With school and everything its taken me a while to write this new chapter. I'm really sorry. I was kind of disappointed that I didnt get as many reviews as I had hoped for in the last two chapters. So if you havent already could you please review the 2-part chapter and let me know what you think. This new chapter takes place about a month after the hauted house. Things have returned to normal but with Trigon's recent return to the living world how long will that last? I really hope you enjoy the newest chapter. Here's the 18th chapter of X High School. Enjoy.

Chapter 18

"Calm Before the Storm"

In the depths of the haunted mansion Lord Trigon stands in a room surrounded by 8 crypts. He stands in garbing black as the night. He wore a dark colored sleeveless shirt and pants with double metal bands around the top of his boots. He wore a cloak of ebony; the underside of his cape was of deep scarlet. On the left side of his cloak above his heart he wore a pin. A wicked red "S" the mark of Scath. He had short white hair and yellow human-looking eyes. All though he had the appearance of a man, beneath the exterior was something far more sinister. That no mortal man should ever dare see. In his hand was a long silver staff with a demonic skull and a large red crystal sphere. It was his magic staff, which housed an unspeakable power. The gargoyle stood secluded in the back of the chamber as his master stepped forward. Wielding his staff, the demon lord raised it above his head.

"Come forth." He commanded.

The crystal came to life, streaks of red lighting shoot from it striking 3 of the tombs at once. They laid before him in circular fashion. He continued to hold it, as the bolts of lighting stirred the sleeping dead. The lids were removed from the stone crypts, as his dark lighting rejuvenated the deceased. Trigon smiled as a burst of light exploded from his staff bringing them back to the living world. The dead were lifted from their caskets by red beams of light encompassing their bodies as they were remade into bodies of flesh and blood. The 3 soldiers hovered above him, still covered in the light as they were covered in clothing. Another flash of light completes the ceremony they're lowered to stand in the above ground crypts.

One of them was a man in a leather jacket, t-shirt and jeans; he wore a deep red mask A helmet that covered his entire face, except for white eyes that peered out from under the steel mask.

"I am Red Hood. Who released me from my sleep?" asked the young man.

Trigon holds out his staff diagonally towards Red Hood. "I am Ryan Trigon, dark master of the underworld. And soon to be conqueror of the human plain." He said.

Two more rose up a pair of knights. The first one wore a black outfit and wore crimson armor. His suit had two additional armor plates in the shape of chest muscles with a black "M" written across them. His shoulder plates covered his upper arms and came off to a point above his elbows with three small bent spikes on each shoulder. His arm guards had three straight spikes sticking out of the side. His shin guards also had three spikes coming out the front and a skull design over the knees of his suit. He has long black hair down to his waist with blue eyes. He wore a long white cape that was part of his armor, slipping under the back plate over his shoulder blades. He carried with him a great shield in the shape of a badge; it was long and slender with three points at the top and one at the bottom. A black dragon emblazoned on the front. The back of the shield is a sheath for his sword. Only the handle and edge of his sword are visible from the front. He carried it with him at all times.

"I am Machior, The Dragon Knight. Here to serve you my master." He said.

"Good." Said Ryan.

The second knight was similar in appearance to the first knight. His armor was silver, without the spikes and had a black "R" on his chest. His armor was clean cut without the overdone features of his brother's armor. This one had long white hair that was of the same length and had gray eyes. He wore a scarf to hide his face. His sword and sheath was on the back of his armor.

"And I am Rorek, The Wizard Knight." He introduced.

Trigon stood there smugly with his arms folded. "Perfect three down, four more to go. Heh heh heh."

Meanwhile back in the city, things were going on as usual. It was a regular day at X High School, if anything that happens here is considered regular. Rich and Roy are in the hallway arguing. Vic is standing in-between them trying to keep them from killing each other…again. They're still rebuilding the arena from the last time they threw down. It's been a little over a month since their haunted house incident. Till now, nobody in the school knew the real reason why Slade and Vic were in the hospital. Richard told people they were in a car crash and stuck with their story while they were recuperating. Raven visited Slade almost every day. Bringing him flowers and just to talk with him, and with Vic right across from them. He unfortunately had a front row seat to their PDA.

Back to the present Vic was still trying to hold Richard and Roy off before they thrashed another part of the school… oh and each other.

"For the last time man, step off!" Vic told Roy keeping him at arms length from himself and Richard.

"If you think I'm going to take losing the last race to him sitting down your dead wrong!" said Roy trying to grab Richard.

"Nobody likes a sore loser Roy." Said Richard.

"You're not helping." Vic told him.

"Maybe you should just let them kill each other Vic." Said one of the guys in the crowd.

"After what they did to the south-end lockers last week? The janitor's still cleaning up that mess." Another guy said.

Vic tried desperately to keep the two boys separated. He strained his face trying to hold the riders off; this was too much even for him. And he's one of the strongest guys in school.

"I can use some help here guys!" he yelled.

All though reluctantly at first two guys grabbed Richard from behind and two other guys grabbed Roy from behind and dragged them away from each other. Vic let out a wearied sigh as he let his arms fall to his sides. About five or six other people carried the rival riders to the opposite ends of the hallway. As much as they would have wanted to see them fight, the last thing anyone wanted was to be entangled in the fight.

Up on the second floor, the spirit of the holidays is in the air. Students and faculty were hanging up Christmas decorations. Red and green streamers were being taped to lockers. Several of the teachers were hanging wreaths on their doors with the help of students. Gar Logan was walking down the hallway; he glanced at the various goings-on around him. Boys were standing at the girls' lockers talking & flirting. One girl giggled at something one of the boys was telling her. He smiled as he strolled down the hallway with books in hand. He has one thing on his mind, or rather one person. He headed towards Tara's locker, she was putting up her books when he puts his arms around her waist from behind she knew only one person in the world does that, she turned and saw him.

"Hey." She smiled.

"The Winter Dance is coming up and I was wondering if you'd like to go?" Garfield asked Tara.

"Yeah, of course I'd like to go." She said.

"Cool." He said.

"You want to head down to the mall after school?" she asked him.

"Yeah, sure." He said.

"Great." She said kissing him; he returned the kiss wrapping his arms around her.

"I love you." He said resting his brow against hers.

"Me too." She said, Tara looked up at him and kissed him again on the lips.

The school bell rings, she shut her locker door and they walk to class together. They've been friends since grade school know each other inside out. They were best friends, but only recently did they each other into their hearts. They've been with each other through thick and thin, through good times and bad. He's been with her in her darkest hour and her in his. Nobody understands them better no friendship is truer. They will always be there for each other until the very end. They want to grow old together, and be with each other always. For that is what love and friendship is all about. They walked down the Christmas-laden hallway arm in arm, truly in love with each other.

Meanwhile downstairs Richard and the others were in Mr. Blud's Science class taking notes. The Russian exchange student Leonid Kovar was sitting next to Richard. While Blud had his back turned he got Leonid's attention.

"Hey, a bunch of us are going to play football in the park after school. You going?" he whispered.

Leonid was busy taking notes but turned to Richard. "Yes, sounds like fun." He quietly answered.

Rich leaned back in his chair to the Greenland exchange student sitting directly behind him. "What about you Ga'narrk you in?" he asked.

"Ga'narrk." He grunted softly.

"Is that a yes?" Richard asked Leonid. The Russian shrugged his shoulders.

Kole leaned forward behind Richard's left side. "He said yes." She softly answered.

"Cool. Tell him to meet us at the park at 5." Rich told Kole.

"Mr. Grayson." Mr. Blud said standing over him. "Perhaps you would like to stay after class." He said scolding his student.

"No sir." Richard said looking up at him.

"Then I suggest you keep facing the board and keep quiet. Otherwise you might have to postpone your little football game." His white haired teacher suggested.

"Yes sir." Said Richard and went back to writing the rest of his notes.

"That goes for the rest of you. No talking until _after_ class is over." Said Mr. Blud as he walked past.

Rich grimaced as he continued writing his notes.

"Bleedin' idiots." Argent muttered to herself as she continued writing never skipped a beat.

A couple of hours later it was 3 in the afternoon. Gar and Tara walked through the mall together arm in arm. They walked down the main thoroughfare of the mall, where they kept the display cars. Gar ran over to a red SUV it was a Honda Pilot, they checked out the car walking a full circle around it.

"Cool." He said.

"Yeah, it is really nice." Tara says.

"Yeah. Oh dude!" he caught site of the next car a blue Corvette and runs to it.

"Hey Tara, check this out!" he said, she walks over to where her boyfriend is.

"Whoa." She said in amazement as she gazed at the royal blue 2007 Chevy Corvette convertible.

Gar walked over to the driver's side and put his hand on the door handle to his surprise it was unlocked.

"What are you doing? No get out of there. " Tara almost scolding him as he proceeded to get into the car.

"Come on Tara, get in." he said.

"I don't think we're suppose to get into them." she said.

"Why else would they put them here?" he asked from inside the Vette.

She opened the passenger side door and got into the sports car and closed the door. Gar closed his. He was already feeling at home in this.

"Its really nice." She said feeling the leather seat. She looked up and saw Gar reach for the key that was _in_ the ignition.

"Don't start it Gar." She told him.

"Oh come on "T" what's the worse that can happen?" he asked turning the key and starting the car.

"Besides its not like this thing's going to…" before he could finish his sentence the car takes off without warning.

They screamed as the corvette barreled down the hallway. People jumped out of the way and ducked into stores to avoid getting hit. The car shoots out of the hall and slides across tires squealing as it raced into another part of the mall. And Gar cannot find the brake. They crashed through the window of a clothing store; the car flies and lands destroying clothing racks as it tore through the store. It came out the front entrance. And raced wildly into the one across from it. The out of control Corvette ripped apart a women's shoe store. Destroying hundreds and hundreds of shoes in a fell swoop, frantic shoppers dive out of the way as it smashed through shelves headed towards the back of the store. Gar turned the wheel as hard as he could the car slides. The driver's side hits a giant shelf in the back of the store and takes off as it came crashing down. Gar was doing everything he could to get the car to stop but it was no use. They crashed through a wall as the shoe store collapsed to the ground. They were in an appliance store this time. The Corvette skids as it heads out the front doors crushing everything in its path. They smashed through the glass double doors of the store and were back in the open. By now security guards were after them in golf carts with red lights flashing. A squad of 6 golf carts chased after the hooligans.

"Tara? Tara." She heard Gar's voice. She let out a startled gasp. They were standing in front of the Corvette. She must have imagined the whole thing.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

"Um, yeah I'm fine. Sorry must have drifted off or something." She said.

"Its ok." He said.

"Gar?"

"Yeah?

"If you ever get one of these you make sure you know how to drive It." she tells him.

"Um…ok. I'll…make a note of that." he said a little wierded out.

"Kay. What do you say we get something to eat?" she asked.

They left the car exhibit and headed up to the food court when Tara told him. "And let's avoid clothing and shoe stores."

"You read my mind." He said.

A while later after they got some fried chicken at the food court they were walking down the hallway together arm in arm. When Gar looked up and spotted Santa Clause sitting in his chair, he looked at the line of children that was waiting for him this gave him an idea.

"Hey Tara, look who it is." He says.

"No, I don't think so." She said.

"Come on, it will be fun. You know you want to." He grinned.

"Let's get in there before it gets too long." She smiled.

They ran over to the line and squeeze in-between some people. Some of the adults look down at the teenage couple.

"Are you guys a little old to be waiting in line for Santa?" one of them asked.

"No." they both answered.

They were about halfway though the line, which went from one end of the hallway to the other and with them right in the middle. It didn't take long till it was there turn. The child in front of them got off of Santa's lap and went over to his mom.

"We're next." Said Tara.

Santa looked up as he saw two teenager standing next in line. Even though it seemed unusual he waved aside convention and let them come up. And just like any kid he asked them. "What do you two want for Christmas?"

Tara was the first to speak up. "What I want for Christmas isn't anything material. My brothers never got along growing. My oldest one is 35; he took me in with his family after our parents died. He values success and heads my Dad's accounting firm. And my other brother is 24 he lives in San Diego goes to school and owns a bar. When there in the same room together they treat each other like strangers. I wish that just once they'd get along so that we all can enjoy Christmas." Tara told Santa.

His eyes widened when he heard Tara's wish. He had been given some pretty tough ones before. Like kids asking to bring divorced parents back together or bringing their soldier father home. The old elf removed his glasses and he looked at her.

"Well Tara…the things of the heart are not easily solved. I've had kids who wanted their parents to get back together. While I'm not always able to do that, I've always told them to have faith and believe. I'm sure that deep down your brothers care for each other. Your older brother wants to see your younger brother be successful, all though he may define "success" differently. And one day Bryan will understand and appreciate what Greg was trying to do. The one thing they have in common is you. Both Bryan and Greg love you and those are the ties that bind. And no matter what happens you'll always have your brothers." Santa explained.

The young girl smiled. "Thanks Santa." And wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I'll do my best to send a little extra Christmas magic your way." he said as she got up off his lap.

"Now what can I do for you Gar?" he asked the teenage boy.

"My dad is a doctor he's always on-call and I hardly ever get to see him when he's home." he said.

"And you want him to be home for Christmas." St. Nick said.

"Yeah." said Gar.

"The holidays are extremely busy for hospital staff. That unfortunately cannot be helped. I'm sure that your father will get some time off this Christmas." He said.

Gar nodded his head dejectedly. "Yeah."

"I know this is hard on you. Your father works hard, he wants the best for his family when they what they want is him being there for them. I don't know how many special events he may have missed out on, but I'm positive that this Christmas things will be different. You just keep your head up and the light will come shining through." St. Nick told him.

"Thanks." Gar said sounding a little more hopeful.

"You guys are fortunate to have each other. Love is what brings us together, and it's the thing that will always see us through. Remember that." Santa said bringing Gar and Tara's hands together they smiled at each other.

"We will." Gar said.

Author's Note: I know that I promised Sam, I'd do a football chapter. I'm real sorry about that, I'll cover that in the next chapter I promise you'll get to see that. I hope that everyone enjoyed this chapter. This story has over 2100 hits, even if your just reading this story, could you please review and let me know how I'm doing? Really, that's all I ask.

Thanks to all my readers & reviewers for being so patient, I know it must really be a drag for you guys.

Please Review.


	19. Attack

Chapter 19

"Attack"

Over in the city park it was 5 o 'clock in the evening, time to play some football. Rich, Slade, Vic, Leonid, Ga'narrk walked through the park with the ball in hand. From the other side of the field a group of 5 guys approached them. They stood in the middle of the field. Richard and the leader of the opposing team stepped forward to face each other.

The leader was wearing a blue shirt and jeans and had messy blonde hair. "Glad you guys could make it." He said.

"Likewise, guys this is Curtis Joseph. He's an old friend of mine from Gotham." Richard said introducing them to his friend.

"My friends call me 'Cujo'" Curtis introduced.

"Cujo these are my friends Slade, Vic, Leonid & Ga'narrk. There from Xavier High." Richard said.

"And these are my friends Mark, Russ, Kyle & Sam. There from North Canyon High School." Cujo introduced.

"Cool, formalities aside let's play some foosball." Richard said.

"Yeah!" went Mark.

"All right, let's do dis!" Said Vic.

The two teams got into position. Richard's the quarterback. Slade's running back, Vic's receiver, Leonid & Ga'narrk are left and right Tackle and Gar' s the Place kicker. Cujo's the quarterback of his team. Gar had the ball to hike it to Richard.

"Ready, set. Hut, hut hike!" Rich called.

Gar snapped it to QB, Slade and the others take the defensive as Richard runs back and looks for an opening. Here comes Russ & Kyle. He throws it to Vic, intercepted it and runs down the field. Sam & Mark run after him but Vic makes for an easy touchdown 6-0.

"Yeah, all right!" Said Rich.

Vic laughs and trots back up the field to the others. Sam and Mark tell him "Good job" as they all get back in position. Rich's team has possession of the ball again. Little did they know a certain redhead was watching them from behind the trees, Kori smiled as she watched them play. They changed formation Gar was standing in the back for the placekick.

"Ready? Hike!" Richard snapped the ball to Leonid and held it in place. Gar runs and kicks the ball as far as he could. And the extra point is good! Rich's team 7, Cujo's team nothing.

"Wow, you got some serious hang time on that kick." said Cujo.

"Thanks." Said Gar.

"Maybe you should try out for the team." Cujo added.

"Yeah, well we'll see how he does on the next kick." said Vic.

"Hey!" went Gar, several of the guys laughed.

They got back into their regular positions and snapped the ball to Richard as he ran back getting ready to throw the ball.

"One gator, two gator, three gator, four gator, five gator, six gator seven gator, eight gator, nine gator, ten gator!"

Rich threw the ball high in a perfect spiral to Vic. But at the last second Mark caught the ball in midair flying in front of Vic. He lands and takes off headed up the field. The guys do their best to tackle him he passes it to Sam who scores the first touchdown for his team. His team let out a cheer as they celebrated. All of this is in good fun.

"Hey guys, sometime today?" Slade said.

With the ball in their possession they get back to the middle of the field. The score is now tied 7-7. Kori walked down towards them, Vic and some of the other players looked up.

"Is it all right if I play?" she asked.

They looked at each other and looked at her. They weren't really playing that rough and it's just backyard football.

"Yeah sure, why not? You can be on our team." Said Rich.

She smiled and came down to the field. Thanking them as she walked up to Richard.

"No problem." he said.

"Don't worry, we'll go easy on you." Said Gar.

"No need to hold back on my account." She said.

"All right, if that's how you want It." he said.

"Kori why don't you be one of our receivers. You'll be teaming with Leonid & Ga'narrk." Richard said.

"Kay." She said.

The two teams get back into position with one very fine addition to Rich's team. Kori took her place next to Leonid, she smiled at him and he smiled back. Richard scanned the area ready to begin the play.

"Ready, set. Hut, hut hike!"

Gar snaps the ball back to Richard he rushes back as he looks for a spot to throw the ball. Kori and Leonid are open he throws the ball before he is tackled. The ball spirals through the air Kori's running back to try to catch the ball. It drops into her hands and she takes off running into the end zone for an easy touchdown. Making the score 13-7 Rich's team.

Kori tied her hair back in a ponytail. "Think you guys can make this more interesting?" she asked.

"Ooooh!" went the guys, she's asking for it.

"All right Kor, think you can play with the big dogs?" asked Vic.

"All I see is a bunch of puppies." She says.

"OHHHHHH!" the guys all said.

"Ouch." Went Cujo.

"Its on!" said Mark.

"I think its time we put her in the kennel." Sam joked.

"Kori, are you sure you want to do this?" Richard asked.

"Why, Richard you almost sound worried. Yes, I'm positive." She said.

"All right, just remember it's your ambulance ride." He said.

She smiled in confidence. "Trust me, I don't think that will happen." She said getting into position.

"Just warning ya." He said, as they got ready to snap the ball.

"Try not to hurt her too badly guys." Rich said to the other players.

"Yeah sure." Mark said.

"Ready, set. Hut, hut, hike!"

They snapped the ball to Richard he instantly tossed it to Kori and she takes off down the field. Sam, Mark and Russ all dive at her. Kori jumps over them as they hit the ground and keeps running. Kyle tackles her wrapping his arms around her waist and throwing her down to the ground. She toppled over and landed softly on her back and dropped the ball. Richard and the others run over to her. Kyle gets up off of her.

"You ok?" Vic asked.

"Yeah I'm fine." She said getting up. Rich gives her his hand and pulls her up.

"Let's go again." She said he smiled at her. "Yeah." he said.

"I told you I could handle them." Kori said to Rich as they walked.

Slade gives the ball to Kyle since she fumbled the ball in the last play. They walk back to the center of the field. Richard's team went on to win the game by a score of 21-14 thanks to a touchdown by Slade. A few minutes after the game ended Richard and Kori went for a walk.

"You did great today." Richard said.

"Thanks." She said.

"How did you learn to play like that?" he asked.

"Me and my brother would play together sometimes in the yard." She said.

"Oh." He said.

They walked past a large oak tree and down a steep hill to the bottom. They continued walking.

"Kori, there's something I wanted to ask you." He said.

She stopped and turned around. "Yeah?"

"Its something I wanted to ask you for a while…there's a race coming up down in Houston, Texas and I was wondering if…you'd want to come along with me?" he asked.

"Oh I don't know Richard…I'd like to, I really would. But Houston is so far away. I'd have to talk it over with Dad." She said.

Richard nods his head "I understand." He said.

"Let me call him and see." She said taking out her cell phone.

"Why don't you let me talk to him?" rich asked holding out his hand. She gives him the cell phone.

"Mr. Anders? This is Rich Grayson, I was going to ask if it was alright if Kori came with me on a trip?"

"To where?" Galfor asked on the other end.

"To watch me compete in the AstroCross 400 in Houston." Richard answered.

Silence fell on the other end of the line. Richard stood there for what seemed like hours when her father finally responded.

"Your joking, right?" he said.

"_I wish." _The teen said under his breath. "Uh, no sir. See we're going to fly there on one of my dad's private jets. We'll have separate rooms and everything. My dad's coming too. Bruce and I are going to stay the night before the race and once its over we're going to fly back to San Antholas." Richard explained.

"I'm sorry but the answer is no. I don't want her traveling that far on her own." Galfor told him after thinking it over.

"I understand." Richard said.

"Good luck in your race." Galfor says.

"Thanks…bye." Richard said hanging up.

"Let me guess…" Kori said arms folded.

"He said no." Rich told her.

"I expected as much from him." she said as she looked down at the ground.

"Well you might not be able to travel with me. But there is something else I wanted to ask you." He said placing his hand on her shoulder.

"What is it?" she said looking up at him.

"Would you go with me to the Winter Dance?" he asked.

Suddenly her eyes lighted up as a smile came to her face.

"Richard, I'd love to go to the Winter Dance with you." She said. They drew each other into a hug.

"Thanks." Richard muffled his head buried in her neck.

"Thank you Richard." she muffled back, her head buried in his.

A couple of hours later, it was evening. The sun was setting on San Antholas and it was time for a certain Boy Wonder to go to work. Robin stood on the rooftop of a building in the southwest business district of the city. He stood arms folded looking over his adopted hometown gazing down at the streets all was quiet tonight. There was a light breeze in the December air; the wind whips through his brightly colored cape. It doesn't usually snow in West Central California seeing they about an hour north of San Francisco. All was quiet; this is going to be a very boring night. Robin sighed and shook his head.

"Something good better happen before I die of boredom." He said to himself.

At that very instant he heard an explosion coming from behind him down in the streets. He immediately spun around and looked over the edge of the building and saw fire and smoke rising from one of the warehouse buildings.

"That will do." He said,

He took out his grappling gun and fired it at an opposing building and swings down to the street below. He lands and retracts the line; his cape draped across his shoulders the classic style of his mentor. He walked towards the source of the blast. His eyes narrowed into slits as he gazed into the blaze and saw a figure standing in the midst of it.

"Who are you? Show yourself." He ordered.

The figure glanced at him and stepped directly from the blaze. Robin's eyes widened a bit when he saw the offender. A man dressed in leather jacket and jeans wearing a red domed helmet. The boy wonder was at first shocked when he saw the man walk through the fire, he quickly regained his composure he had never seen this guy before.

"Who are you?" Robin demanded.

"I am the Red Hood. And if you know what's good for you. You'll stay out of my way." the masked man answered.

In the blink of an eye Red Hood drew his gun and fired Robin threw his birdarang Red Hood dodged it and fired at him again. Robin dodged and fired his grappling hook he ran across the brick wall and leaped with his staff drawn he swung at Hood, who dodged at the last minute and threw his fist into the boy wonder's gut. Robin stumbled back, then turned and swung his staff striking Red Hood's shoulder. The criminal stepped back clutching his shoulder.

"Not bad kid." He said.

Robin twirled his staff. Red Hood assumed a martial arts stance.

"Let's see just how good you are." Hood said.

Robin put away his staff and also a fighting stance.

"Bring it on." Said Robin.

Red Hood edged toward Robin and swung first. Robin blocks the blow with both hands, Red Hood knees him Robin blocks again and swings his leg into the Hood's side, but he easily blocks it. Red Hood throws a punch aimed at Robin's head, Robin tries to block it but is met with the Hood's knee to the stomach Robin lurched forward as the Hood struck him again in the face. Hood swings his forearm at Robin's head and knocks him to the ground. Red Hood stood over him, Robin coughs and spits, wiping his mouth and tries getting to his feet.

"You're a little stronger than I thought." He said facing Hood.

"I'm only getting started." His adversary replies.

Robin got back into proper fighting stance. "Come on Robin, show me what you got!" Red Hood told.

"You'll see what I'm made of." Robin yelled back.

The Boy Wonder charged and jumps in the air, Red Hood extends his gaze to see his steel-toed boots headed towards him. He crossed his arms and blocks the full on strike. Robin continues kicking him from mid-air. Red Hood grabs his ankles and throws him to the ground. He landed headfirst and rolled across the ground. Robin pounds his fist against the pavement as he gets up.

"Is that all you got?" Red Hood asked.

"Shut up!" Robin yelled throwing his fist foolhardily.

Red Hood only grabs his wrist and tosses him across, he stumbled down the street as he turned to see Red Hood's fist up close and personal. Wam! He stumbled up the street again as he rested both hands against the brick wall. His breathing was ragged his head was spinning as Red Hood walked toward him.

"Get a hold of yourself Robin, you cant fight him when your angry. You need to calm down and take control of the situation." He thought to himself. 

Red Hood continued walking toward him, the teen hero regained his composure and turned to face his opponent. He drew a pair of nightsticks from his utility belt. Ready to go another round. Red Hood cracked his knuckles and clinched his fists.

"Give it your best shot." The Red Hood said.

"I intend to." Said Robin.

He charges the Red Hood and swings one of his sticks; Red Hood simply blocks it with his fore arm. Robin swing with the other, Hood dodges it and throws a punch Robin jumps back. And then attack him again with both sticks. Red Hood goes on the defensive and dodges and grabs the sticks he kicks Robin in the chest forcing him to the ground Red Hood had a hold of one of his nightsticks and charged him with it. Robin tumbled backward as Red Hood swung at him. He gets to his feet and plants his foot directly in Red Hood's chest. The hood groaned as he went back a step, Robin with his own nightstick in hand struck Red Hood across the temple of his helmet. Robin kicks him in the side, the villain backtracked a step. Robin kicked him again in the same place and then followed up with a spinning kick to the head and knocks him to the ground. Robin takes up his other nightstick the Red Hood stole from him. He looked up and saw the villain running toward him. The masked man jumped in the air and decked Robin sending him flying up the alley and landing hard. The Teen Wonder got to his feet, Red Hood takes another swing at him Robin dodges it and throws a punch. The Hood dodged it and they engaged in close combat. They block each other blows and were matched move for move. The entire time neither could land a punch. Red Hood threw in a spinning kick, Robin blocked it with both arms Red Hood twisted in the air and brought his other foot across Robin's face. The boy wonder crashed to the ground. Red Hood landed on his feet, he spun in reverse direction and kicked Robin squarely in the chest and sent him crashing into a wall. The teen hero collapsed to the ground. The crimson criminal walked slowly towards him. Robin clutched his chest in pain and coughed, his body was throbbing as he struggled to get to his feet. He stands weakly in front of his enemy. His one knee buckled from the tremendous pain he was under.

"Is that all you've got? I haven't even broken a sweat." The Hooded man taunted as he headed towards him unaware of a figure standing on the building corner above him.

Robin pulled together all the strength he could muster using his staff as a crutch. This bad guy was in a league of his own. He summoned all his strength and stamina there was no way he was going down like this. With fierce determination in his eyes he stands straight and tall ready for one last showdown. Red Hood drew his handgun from his holster and loaded it. The figure on the rooftop knew that it was time to step in. she leapt from the building corner to the street below and landed in-between them. Robin and Red Hood looked in surprise at the new comer.

The oddest of sights stood in front of them. A teenage girl no older than Robin she was about 6 feet tall, with hair down to her waist. She had on a black tank top, black mini skirt and black thigh high boots. Her arms, neck, stomach and thighs were wrapped in silver metal bands. Her hair was blazing red, bright as the sun. Her skin was Sunkist orange, what little of it was visible and a large black visor for a mask covered her eyes. The visor seemed to be part of a headdress, its metal bands extended down the sides of her face that came down to her jaw.

"Well, well what do we have here?" Red Hood asked.

"I am the great warrior Starfire." She announced and turned looking back at Robin.

"I believe you are in need of assistance." She said.

"What? I can handle this guy." Robin said.

"Do you want my help or not?" she asked.

"Sure." He said standing next to her, now that he was strong enough to fight.

Red Hood drew both of his handguns and fired. Bullets ricochet off Starfire's armor guarding Robin as they charged into battle. They leap high in the air and come down on Red Hood. Starfire was the first to strike with a punch to the head. Robin followed with one to the stomach the Hood stumbled back. Star charged and hit him again in the head. Robin swept his leg and kicked him hard in the side. The villain tumbled to the ground, clutching his side. He looked up and saw Starfire barreling towards him, he rolled to the side and opened fire on her once again bullets bouncing off her armor and the wall behind her as she flew past. Robin jumps in the air with his staff drawn and brings it down infront of the Hood who dodged it in the nick of time. He aimed his gun and shot at Robin, he dodged it the bullet ripped tore through his cape above the shoulder. Robin disarmed him with his staff. Red Hood drew his other gun pointed right at Robin's head.

"No!" Starfire yelled.

Out of the corner of his eye. Robin saw a green energy beam shoot from her hand and blasted the gun out of his hand. The criminal cried out in pain. Robin adverting kicked him in the head (Red Hood was on the ground the entire time) knocking him on his back. He pointed his staff at the Hood's chest. He sweeps and knocks Robin off his feet and kicked him in the chest. The masked man got to his feet. Starfire threw a flurry of starbolts at him from behind. Explosions ringing around him, he decides to attack the source and charges toward Starfire. At the same time, she flies towards him hurling a barrage of starbolts at him. Red Hood dodges them and jumps in the air to tackle Star but she ready for him or so she thought when he flipped and grabs her by the shoulders and slams her to the ground. Robin threw a birdarang cutting the back of his neck. Again he cried out in pain and turned to see Robin running towards him. There was an eerie green glow, he forgot about Starfire and turned to see her fire a large blast of energy at point blank range.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

He screamed as the blazing energy beam propelled him high into the air, the intense ray tears apart his shirt as he soared. Robin jumps up with a flying kick and drives both of his steel-toed boots into Red Hood's back stopping him in mid-air. The beam dissipated and two of them dropped to the ground. Red Hood crashed into the ground face first. Robin landed safely in the crouched position. He and Starfire walked over to the Hood. He groaned as he spoke.

"You haven't seen the last of me." the hooded man was engulfed in pitch black and vanished.

Robin and Starfire stood over the spot their enemy had laid. The two of them breathed a sigh of relief. He turned his attention to the masked girl as she began to walk away.

"Wait." He said.

She turned to hear what he had to say.

"I don't know who you are, but I'm glad you came. I don't know what I would have done without you." He said.

Starfire smiled. "You were in trouble, it seemed like the right thing to do." She replied.

"I never seen you before." he said.

"Nor have I." She responded.

"I'm Robin."

"As I stated earlier, I am Starfire."

"I like that name." He said.

A soft blush could be seen beneath her visor and tried to look away. She rubbed the back of her neck.

"I like your name too." she said.

He smiled as the midnight wind blew, his long black and yellow cape ruffled in the breeze. As Starfire's long red hair flowed softly in the wind. They smiled at each other, clearly enjoying one another's company. They started walking towards on another when Robin's communicator went off. He went for the device in his utility belt.

"Everything clear on the west side?" came the Dark Knight's voice.

"Yeah, all's clear on this end." he responded and put away his communicator.

When he looked up she was gone. Where could she have gone? Robin sighed to himself as he took out his grappling and fired it into the distance, flying off into the night. On the other side of town Starfire flew over San Antholas she smiled to herself as she thought back on the previous events. There was something she liked about this guy something familiar and yet something foreign. She gently and quietly glided through the air towards a white two-story house. It was the middle of the night and no one else would be up at this hour. The Tamaranian flew through an open window on the second floor and shut it behind her. After drawing the curtains she turned on the lights of her bedroom. She walked over to her bed and removed her mask placing it on the nightstand. And undid the back of her uniform, unzipping it down and removing the armor. She turned around revealing her who she was. It was none other than Kori Anders, high school student. She placed the top half of her armor on the bed as she removed the rest. Changing into her pink pajama bottoms and a gray tank top. She took her Starfire uniform and walked into her closet turning on the light, she opened a hidden door in the back of the closet placed her suit on a mannequin and affixed her mask over the head of the dummy. She smiled closing the hidden door and walked out of her closet. After turning off the light, she climbed into bed and soon drifted off to sleep.

Back in the depths of the haunted mansion a humiliated and defeated Red Hood walked through the passageway when Malchior the Dragon Knight approached him.

"Red Hood, where have you been? Master Ryan has been looking for you. What happened to your clothes?" The crimson knight asked.

"I'd rather not talk about it." Red Hood shouldered past him and continued down the hall

When he was out of earshot, he muttered to himself. "They wont get away with this. The girl and Robin will pay for humiliating me. I'll make sure of it." he said holding his gun diagonally over his chest.


	20. All Out Racing!: The Houston Astrocross

Author's Note: _All right here it is, the long awaited 20th chapter has arrived. I'm sorry that everyone had to wait so long I was working on this over break. I got great reviews for the last chapter. Thanks to everybody for all there support. I decided to go in a little different direction, hope you dont mind. Remember when Richard asked Kori to go with him to that race from the last chapter? This is it. In this chapter Richard travels to Houston, Texas to compete in the Astrocross 500. Here's X High School, chapter 20. I hope you like it. _

Chapter 20

"Astrocross"

It was Saturday morning over at the Wayne Estate; Richard was just beginning to wake up as he sat up in bed the wave of pain hit him. He was still very sore from last night his chest and sides especially. As he slowly managed to get himself out of bed, his rubbed his side as he painfully made his way across his bedroom. Alfred stopped at his door with a load of laundry.

"Hard time on the town last night, Master Dick?" the butler asked.

"You could say that." he replied.

Alfred saw the bruises on the boy's body. "What on earth did you get into?" he asked concerned.

"A new guy calling himself the Red Hood ruffed me up late last night. Don't worry Alfred I'll…." He collapses to the floor.

"Master Richard!" Alfred said dropping the basket and rushes over to his side.

A while later there in the medical ward of the mansion Bruce and Alfred were in the room with him. Alfred applied a damp cloth to his forehead as Richard came to.

"Alfred?" the boy asked.

"Are you feeling all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine now." He said getting up though still feeling weak from the fall. He swung his legs over and sat on the bed.

"Alfred, do me a favor don't tell Bruce." Richard requested. The butler's eyes widened in surprise.

"Why one earth would I do that?" he asked.

"Just please Alfred, do this for me this race means a lot to me." Richard said getting up.

"You know I cant do that." Alfred said.

Richard was already standing by the entrance as Alfred spoke. He left without saying anything. The butler stood there not knowing what to do. A while later Rich was back in his room getting dressed and getting ready for the trip down to Houston. With his things already packed and his suitcases lying the floor on either side of him. Wearing a white t-shirt and a pair of jeans he slips on his black and blue streaked leather-racing jacket. On the front of his jacket in gray letters read _"Knight Racer"_ he zipped his jacket up to his chest and slipped on his black racing gloves with the Velcro straps. The last thing he put on was a pair of sunglasses. He picked his bags off the floor and walked out of his bedroom. A few minutes later he was downstairs where Alfred was waiting at the door. Rich smiled as he walked past him, Alfred sighed and followed him to the car. After putting his bags in the trunk Alfred opened the door for Richard where Bruce was already waiting for him. A few seconds later, Alfred got into the driver's seat and drove them to the airport. A half hour later they were in the air en route to Houston, Texas. In the later hours of the evening they arrived in Houston. Reporters were crowding around Richard and Bruce as they made there way through the airport.

A few hours later they were sitting in their hotel suite. Richard was in his room, watching TV on the bed flipping through all the local channels. They had a wide variety of channels almost as many as they got at home. He looked over at the computer that was sitting against the wall on the far side of his room, and thought he'd check up on his friends and let them know he made it. Richard tossing the remote on the bed walked over to the computer and saw that it had a web cam. This gave him an idea. He turned on the camera and accessed the video email page. More than 1000 miles away in San Antholas Raven was at her computer working on something, when an alert came up. She clicked on the icon and was immediately patched through. A vid screen came up and saw him staring back at her. The boy smiled.

"Hey Raven."

"Hi Richard I see you made it over there. How was your flight?"

"It was all right, got there pretty fast. All though I did have put up with a bunch of reporters when I got there."

Raven giggled. "Thought as much, you are undefeated in rankings so it's only natural."

"Hey you've been keeping score! Thanks. It kind of gets old after a while. The reporters that is." he said.

Raven smiled. "Are you nervous about tomorrow?" she asked.

"A little bit. I got a big enough bulls-eye on my back that most of the competition wants me out." Rich said.

"I can't imagine what that's like." She said.

"It keeps me up at night, tell you that much." He said.

"Well, the best thing to do is not to think about it. Though I suppose that's better said than done." She told him.

"I try not to think about it, I got plenty of other things to worry about." He replied.

"Don't we all?" Raven asked rhetorically. She heard him chuckle on the other end.

"Do you want to talk to Kori? She's staying the night with me over here." Raven said.

"Yeah." Rich said.

Rae turned away from the computer and called out. "Kori, somebody wants to talk to you!"

A few seconds later Kori walked into Rae's bedroom, as Raven got up from her chair. At first she didn't know who it was but was surprised when she saw the familiar face looking back at her. She sat down in front of the computer wearing a pink nightgown.

"Richard!" she cried.

"Hey Kor." Rich chuckled. Kori smiled brightly.

"How are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm fine, how are you doing?" he asked.

"Good." She said sweetly.

"Well, I can see this is going to be a while. I'll see you later Richard." Raven said off-screen.

"Ha ha. All right, I'll see you later Rae. Thanks." Rich said.

"You bet. Good luck tomorrow." She said.

"Thanks Rae." He told her.

"Try not to stay on all night." Raven winked at Kori.

"All right." Kori said.

It wasn't long after that Raven left the room, closing the door behind her going down to the kitchen to get something to eat. About an hour or so later, Richard and Kori were winding down on there conversation.

"…It's been real nice talking with you." Kori said.

"Yeah, same here. Sorry I wasn't able to say good-bye in person."

"Its all right." She said.

"Cool." Richard yawned as he stretched at the computer.

"Tired?" she asked.

"Little bit. I forgot I'm in a different time zone. Think I'm about 2 hours ahead of you." He said.

"I guess I better let you go." She said.

"All right." He said as he finished stretching.

"Good luck in the race tomorrow, sorry I couldn't be there." she said.

"Thanks, its all right." He said as he smiled at her. She smiled sweetly back at him.

"I love you." She told him.

"I love you too Kori." He said kissing his fingers and touching the screen. She returned the gesture blushing a bit.

"Good night." she said.

"Night." he said. A second later they both went off-line.

Richard went back to lie on his bed. He gazed up at the ceiling his hands behind his head. He turned and looked out his bedroom window and saw the city sitting outside his world. This was his first time in Houston; it was almost a shame that he wouldn't have time to see the sites. He got off the bed and went to his door; he wasn't tired yet and needed something to do. Making sure he picked up his hotel access card he left his suite the door automatically locked when he closed it. Slipping the card into his pocket he made his way down the hall. Thought he'd check out the place and see if any of the other racers are here. When he got about halfway down the hall he saw a door that was open and saw someone was inside. He knocked on the door, a boy with brown hair answered. He wore an orange and blue t-shirt with a Radioactive symbol on it.

"Yeah?" the teen asked.

"Hi, your door was open. I wasn't sure if your one of the other racers?" Rich asked.

"Yeah, I'm Grant Emerson. Damage INC. Motorsports." He introduced shaking Richard's hand.

"Richard Grayson, Wayne Racing." He introduced himself.

"I've heard of you. Your that rookie racer that made it up the ranks to first place." Grant smiled.

"I guess my reputation proceeds me." Rich said rubbing the back of his neck.

"Come on I want you to meet the others." Grant said inviting him in.

Richard walked in, inside was a group of Motocross racers sat around the living room talking and watching TV.

"Here he is the man himself. This is Richard Grayson of Wayne Racing." Grant said introducing the group to him.

Richard looked around the room and saw about 4 or 5 racers sitting around the couch. The first one to stand up was a young black racer about the same age as he. The teen walked over and shook hands with him.

"My name's Isaiah Crocker #16 Atomic Factory Racing." He introduced.

"Hey Isaiah I'm Richard #15. Wayne Factory Racing." He said.

"Cool." Said Isaiah.

The next person walked over to him had blonde hair wearing a green t-shirt and jeans. He shook hands with Rich.

"And I'm Cody 'Risky' Driscoll #38 Risk Factory Racing." He said.

"Risky." Rich said patting his shoulder.

The next rider got up from off the couch and walked over to Richard. This one had long black hair and dark colored eyes. He wore a black, white, and blue long sleeved shirt and black pants. The next to last rider introduced himself.

"My name's Garth Riptide #12 Riptide Racing." He said.

"Hey Garth." Richard said shaking hands with him.

"Its cool to meet you." Garth said. Rich nodded.

Only one racer was left, this one Richard was all too familiar with. Orange hair, green eyes and dressed in his usual red outfit.

"Rich, that's Roy Harper #47 for Harper-Queen Racing." Grant said.

"We've already met." Richard said. Roy sat there with his arms crossed ignoring the conversation.

Rich turned back to the other racers. "So your all Factory racers?" he asked.

"We come from all over." Grant said.

"As I'm sure you already know. Our sponsors are big time racing companies." Said Isaiah.

"Big Factories equal big paychecks." Said Cody.

"The one thing I cant understand is how it that you're a rookie and your already racing in 250s?" Grant asked.

"Didn't you dolts hear his factory name? He's Bruce Wayne's kid. His Daddy probably paid the AMA to get him this far." Roy said arrogantly.

"Shut your ass Harper! I earned those races and you know it!" Richard growled.

"Did you?" Roy asked getting out of his chair and walked over to Richard.

"Your damn straight I did!" Rich yelled at him.

"Hey enough!" Grant yelled.

Cody and Isaiah separated the two racers; they knew things had turned ugly.

"Nobody has cheated on anything." Said Grant.

"How can we be sure?" Roy asked, as Cody was physically holding him off.

"I've checked his stats. Richard won all of his races fairly…but you on the other hand. Looking at your records you were disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct in one race especially. It was the season opener in your hometown that you and Rich competed in." said Garth.

"Yeah I remember that one all too well. You slammed into my bike and grounded me against those hey bales on the inside of the track. But I managed to push you off at the last minute and win the race." Said Richard.

Grant, Cody and Isaiah all looked at Roy.

"I think you better go Roy." Grant said.

Isaiah and Cody released Roy, while the others let go of Rich. Roy walked around the group as he sneered at them. The red haired racer slapped the door behind him. Everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sorry for doubting you man." Said Grant.

"Yeah we should have known better." Said Cody.

"Its all right." Rich said.

"I take it you have a history with this guy?" asked Cody."

"You have no idea." Richard told him.

"Well were sorry about what happened." Isaiah told him.

"No its cool don't worry about it. I better get going I'll see you guys at the race tomorrow." Richard told them.

"See you later man." Said Garth.

"Yeah later man. Good luck." said several of the guys.

"Good luck to you guys." Richard said softly as he left the hotel room.

A while later Richard was standing at the window at the end of the hallway. He rested his arms against the window ledge as he looked down at the city and sighed to himself closing his eyes.

"Excuse me." came a girl's voice.

"Hmm?" he looked back and saw a teenage girl with long black hair in a high ponytail. Wearing a red tank top and a pair of jeans.

"Were you in that hotel room down there?" she asked.

"I was…talking to some friends." He told her.

"I live two doors down and I heard you guys fighting." She said.

"Oh I'm sorry about that. I hope we didn't wake you." Rich apologized.

"No you didn't." the girl shook her head.

The girl was very beautiful; she walked up to the ledge beside him.

"Your one of the Motocross racers aren't you?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm Rich Grayson." He said smiling.

"Donna Troy." She said introducing herself.

"Hey Donna." He said warmly.

"Is this your first time visiting Houston?" she asked.

"Actually, yeah it is. What about you?" he asked.

Donna smiled and rested her chin on her arms on the windowsill as she looked down on the city.

"I've lived in Houston all my life. You're probably wondering what I'm doing in a hotel?" she said.

"It comes to mind." He said. Donna smiled.

"I live on the outskirts of town, my brother is in tomorrow's race." She said.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Yeah, he hasn't done too good in the standings." She said.

"Wish him luck tomorrow

Donna shook her head. "Thanks. I was wondering would you like to see the city?"

Rich smiled. "Sure."

A while later they were standing on the roof of the hotel. A cool crisp breeze flew through the air. Clouds filled the night sky. The two of them walked to the ledge of the building. The wind blew through they're jet-black hair a full moon peeked from behind one of the clouds. Rich smiled as he overlooked the city, he had done this plenty of times before as Robin but never really had a chance to truly look at the nightly splendor of a city.

"Its nice isn't it?" she asked.

"Yeah, it sure is." he said.

"Come on there's still plenty more to see." She said.

A couple of blocks down the street they were at a Vans_™_ indoor skate park. Inside the large domed building they walked across the floor as skaters filled the place. They went to the rental shack and got some boards and helmets. A few minutes later they were skating off the ramps and railings. Donna was really good skating the railings. And Richard didn't do too bad, it was clear he wasn't use to a skateboard. Donna giggled as she watched him try to master it only to fall to the ground several times that night. As the night went on he began to get the hang of it and was skating on the half pipe. And did really well. Donna was impressed by his skills; he's a quick study and a good sport for trying something new. A while later they left the skate park and made their way to the nearby mall it was 11 o clock at night too late to be buying stuff instead they walked around the mall Donna showed him all of the shops. They had some interesting stuff to say the least. After that they left the mall because it was closing time. They walked up the street back to the hotel.

"I'm afraid that's all I can show you. Houston really isn't that safe at night." she told him.

"Hey that's ok, you showed me a lot tonight." He said.

"I still didn't get to show you the best parts of town." she said.

"Its ok. Maybe I'll get to see some of it when the race is over." He said.

"That would be cool." She said. Richard laughed.

The two of them walked back to the hotel and made it in the front door. They went up the elevator together and headed to their floor. The elevator door opened.

"Thanks for showing me around." He said.

"Its my pleasure Richard." she said.

"Maybe if your ever in San Antholas I can show you around." He said.

"That would be great." She said. They walked up the hallway to Donna's suite and stopped at her door.

"Well it was nice meeting you Richard. Good luck in the race tomorrow." She said.

"Thanks, you too. Hey if you want I can give you my email." He offered.

"OK, sure I'd like that." she said.

He patted his jacket down looking for something to write on. "Uh, I don't have any paper."

Donna laughed, "I'll be here tomorrow you can give it to me then. I think my brother's sleeping right now. Don't want to wake him."

"All right, it was cool meeting you Donna." He smiled.

"Yeah you too." she smiled back at him; they drew each other into a hug.

"Good luck in the race tomorrow." She told him.

"Thanks." He said. They pulled away from each other Rich made his way down the hall.

"See ya." He said.

"Bye." She said.

Donna gave him one last glance as he walked down the hallway before she shut the door. Rich walked past Grant's hotel room that he had been in just an hour or so earlier. Walking up to his suite he took his card out of his pocket stuck it in the slot and opened the door, shutting it gently behind him. While Richard settled down to sleep some of the other racers were up doing other stuff. Grant was in his room going over the video of previous races studying his opponents' moves and paying special close attention to how Richard won each of his races. In another hotel room Roy Harper was going over similar video studying his opponents and drinking a beer. Down the hall Isaiah was in his room asleep, he had went to bed earlier that night. And up the hall Garth and Cody were playing video games, a Motocross game nonetheless. Apparently this is there way of preparing for the race. The night went by quickly, too quickly for some of them as they could have used the extra sleep. It was 7 am the next morning when people started pounding on their doors telling them to get up. Some of them got up rather reluctantly while others pulled the covers over and went back to sleep. Richard was already up brushing his teeth after taking a shower. He shaved and quickly got dressed. He was out of his room in 10 minutes that's lightning pace for the average teenager. As he was walking down the hall he met up with Isaiah. The others weren't so quick to get up. Roy was still asleep when his manager came in and punched him in the side to get him up.

"What? I'm up!" he yelled.

Cody's manager came into his bedroom and ripped the sheets off his bed telling him to get up. The blonde reluctantly got out of bed and got ready. Grant having fallen asleep in his chair last night was already shaving and getting ready for the day. He came out later wearing his orange and blue racing jersey and jeans. Garth was already dressed but still very sleepy as he trudged down the hallway. The riders made it out to there cars and left the hotel.

They walked inside the historic arena and saw the dirt track the hills were massive. The racers were actually kind of impressed by the size of it. Other riders started walking into the arena floor.

"OK, you guys have a couple hours to get ready. Get your gear and go through your practice runs a bit the race will start at 10:30. Good luck to all of you. Now suit up!" the track official said.

A while later Grant came out wearing an orange and blue racing uniform. The jersey was the same shirt he had worn to the arena. Orange with blue sleeves a radioactive symbol with _Damage Inc. _in white. The back of his uniform read: _Emerson 43_. Orange pants with blue streaks down the sides. His shin and arm guards were blue and his chest protector was orange with _Fox Racing_ written over his vest. And the back of the vest with his name and number. With a white helmet and goggles. Grant rolled his bike up next to the track. Several riders are already doing practice runs on the track, going over jumps and flying high in the air. Grant put on his helmet and goggles and started his bike. He pulled onto the track and takes off at full throttle.

Garth was the next to come out with his bike. He was wearing a black uniform that was blue on the shoulders with white sleeves. The front of his uniform had a small tidal wave design with _Riptide Racing_ in blue. The back of his jersey reads: _Riptide 12_. He wore black pants with blue and white streaks. His protective gear was light blue with a blue helmet and white goggles. He pulled his black and blue bike up next to the track and raced the engine; after a racer zoomed past him he throws the hammer down and takes off down the track.

Next out was Richard. He wears a black uniform with a yellow "V" design on his chest and yellow sleeves. The front of his jersey read _Wayne Racing_ in bold gray letters the back read: _Grayson 15_. His pants were black with yellow stripes down the sides and his protective gear was yellow with a gray chest protector his name and number written across the back of the vest in black and yellow. Richard revved the engine to his black and yellow Suzuki. As a fellow racer passed him he guns the engine and takes off up the track and goes flying up the first hill.

After him was Roy Harper wearing a dark red and gold uniform. Red on the shoulders and sleeves and gold on the front and back of the uniform with _Harper-Queen Racing_ in deep red with an arrow going through the team name, the back of his uniform was _Harper 47_ written in red. His helmet was gold colored with red goggles. Like the others his bike was the same color as his uniform. He takes off up the track without waiting for the racer to pass him. The two of them jump the hill at the same time.

Isaiah Crocker wore a burgundy race uniform with white sleeves and the name _Atomic Racing_ written on his chest in bright red with _Crocker 16_ on the back. He wore standard black racing gear. With his name and number on the back of the armor. He takes off and jumps the first hill with ease.

Cody Driscoll was the last one to pull up to the track wearing a turquoise and black uniform. The sleeves and pants were colored and on his chest in big gray letters was the team name _Risk. _The back of his uniform was _Driscoll 38_ his protective gear was blue and his helmet was green. He rolled his bluish-green and black bike up to the track and takes off as another racer passes him. He leaps high off the first jump as they get the pratice run out of the way. A hundred other racers went through the pratice run as brightly colored streaks jumped and sailed through the air.

Back in Richard's hometown, Kori and Raven were sitting on the couch getting ready to watch the race. They had invited all of Rich's friends over to Rae's house to watch. With a little under a half hour to go they waited in anticipation to see the Astrocross 500.

Back in Houston it was getting close to race time as Richard was getting himself psyched up. The arena was filled to capacity as he heard the roar of the crowd. His breathing was heavy; he was sweating and trembling in anticipation. He poured a cup of water over his head as he made his way to the entrance. He stood just inside the entrance when he saw the crowd. Rich did his best to keep his nerves under control as he jumped up and down getting himself mentally ready for the race.

"Good morning and welcome to the Houston Astrodome. The race will begin in a few minutes all racers report to the starting line. Repeat all racers report to the starting line now." The announcer's voice boomed over the arena's public address system.

Richard took off across the field to the sound of fans cheering. He briefly raised his helmet as he ran to the starting line with the other riders. Mounting his bike he put on his helmet and brought his goggles down over his eyes. They started up their bikes revving their engines. Back at Raven's house Kori, Gar, Vic, Rae, Tara, Slade and others gathered around the TV to see the start of the race. The camera was focusing in on Richard, as he got ready to defend his 1st place position in the rankings. The boardman stood in the middle of the track opposite the racers holding the 30 seconds sign above his head and walked off the track. Engines were revving at their peaks. A few seconds later the Boardman held up the 15-second sign, this is it. Rich could feel his knuckles turning white under his gloves. The Boardman ran off the track as the final countdown began. The flagman waved the Green flag the gate dropped and they're off!

Grant Emerson was the first one out of the gate and takes off like a rocket over the first hill taking an early lead in the start of this race behind him is Garth Riptide in second place with Cody Driscoll in third, Richard in forth, Roy in Fifth, and Isaiah Crocker in sixth. Grant flies over the second hill with a huge lead over the other racers. Richard struggles to get past Cody and Garth who are now tied for second place with Richard in third. The rest of the pack catches up to Roy and Isaiah who get buried in the competition. An upset has already occurred as new racers take over the 4th-6th positions. Roy and Isaiah get pushed farther back into the ranks as far as ninth and tenth place. The other racers are ganging up on Richard, Garth and Cody as Richard is passed by two racers and is taken down to 5th place. Garth guns it and tries maintaining his second place position. And Cody tries keeping up with Garth, but is passed by one racer and is taken down to third.

They make it over the first jump; Grant Emerson leads the pack in first place. Followed by a blue racer #211 is in second place and a yellow rider #316 is in third place. Richard had fallen down to sixth place and is fighting his way through the ranks but these guys are just too fast. Garth Riptide is taken down to forth place with Cody "Risky" Driscoll in fifth. Riders are crowded as they struggle to gain some sort of lead over other contenders. They make it over another jump that opens up a little legroom for three racers but not that much. Richard jumps over the hill and lands. He continues to push his way up through the ranks forcing his way next to another racer. There's hardly any room to move as he struggles to get up to fifth place. He riding next to Garth trying to edge his way past the blue clad racer. Garth rams his bike against Richard. But Rich wont have it. He sees an opening on an upcoming hill and he takes it flying high in the air and landing beyond Garth and another racer and he's now in forth place. Before he knew it he was up another hill and back down. He gives it full throttle and takes off down the raceway. Grant Emerson is still half a lap ahead of the pack. And remains unchallenged. Richard struggled his way past Cody who was back in third place. They climb a big hill and sail through the air. Fans rise to their feet as they fly across and come to a swift landing on solid earth. And its Grant Emerson in First place followed by number 211 in Second. Cody Driscoll is in Third and Richard Grayson in Forth.

Richard continued to ride the outside portion of the track Garth Riptide is attempting to catch up to him behind another rider. Isaiah Crocker takes a huge jump off the back hill and clears three riders moving him up considerably in the ranks. Richard whips around the turn and charges up the next hill at full throttle. Cody guns it and liftoff! Cody and Richard are flying 30 feet in the air unbelievable! Cody is the first to land he passes #211 and takes over second place. 211 isn't going to take that lightly and charges to take back his position, but Cody's too far ahead of him to catch up. Richard makes an attempt to pass number 211 on the inside. But the rider sees him and blocks him. Rich goes to the outside and blows past him. He races up the hill and soars through the air and lands he beats 211 putting Grayson in third place. He has a long way to go in this race. Cody Driscoll is still well in front of him in second place. More racers are starting to gain up on them including Garth, Roy and Isaiah who are among the many contenders intended on winning this race. This is going to be a long and grueling race for Richard.

Richard being chased by a mob of racers as he tries to maintain his position, Richard guns it for all it's worth no way he's going to lose to these guys. Richard has 20 racers on his tail. Coming up the next hill he hits the Nitro and flies for 200 feet clearing the second hill and leaves the competition in the dust. He comes down for a rough landing but keeps going he's behind the leader only 100 feet away. Grant looks back and sees the black and yellow racer in the corner of his eye. Richard catches up to him, but Grant guns it. He sails up the next hill pops a wheelie in mid-air and comes back down on earth on his front tire and keeps going. Rich punched the accelerator and attempts to catch the leader. But Grant won't give in so easily. He guns it again and flies down the track at 80 mph. Richard take it up to 75. They whip around the track and lap the rest of the pack much to the shock of other racers. The rest of the pack breaks out going all out in attempting to catch the two leading racers. Roy Harper is currently in 4th place. Isaiah Crocker is in 3rd place. Richard Grayson in 2nd and Grant Emerson has dominated this race in 1st. the other racers fan out and have the space they need to really compete in this race. Two blue and gold racers fly over the hill and are riding right on Richard's tail. But Richard isn't about to surrender to these guys. He redlines the bike and takes off at 90mph. The rest of the riders follow suit. The order of riders shifted in seconds. Riders gain and lose positions, as it's an all out battle for first. Garth Riptide and Cody Driscoll are currently in sixth and seventh respectively. Roy has moved up to third and attempts to take out the current second place rider, Richard Grayson. Roy guns it and flies up past Richard hitting him in the back of the head with his fist. Rich is knocked forward but stays on his bike. Roy flies up the hill taking over second and looking to take out the leader who remains unchallenged. In a matter of seconds Roy catches up to Grant and is tied neck and neck with him. This is the first time in the race Grant's had to deal with another racer. They fly over the hills at full speed Roy takes a slight lead over Grant coming over a hill. In split second a new leader emerged Roy Harper leads Grant by a bike length and stays there. Another racer in blue passes him its Garth Riptide! Richard now he's in forth place again. Another racer in green attempts to pass Richard he struggles with the racer who gains a miniscule lead over the undefeated champion, but Richard gives it more power and tries to pass the rider. Meanwhile Grant chases down Roy Harper who has been leading the race for half a lap. Garth comes up behind Grant in third place attempting to pass him. He's riding next to Emerson's back tire as Grant tries to stay ahead of the Riptide. Meanwhile Richard's having his own problems getting past the green racer. He can't seem to pass him as more riders come up behind them. Garth revs it and is tied at second with Grant. His front tire riding right beside Grant and Roy laps the pack still in first place.

Richard fights with the rival green rider for there position. But the rider blows right past him securing third place. Garth and Grant continue to battle for second place coming into the next corner. They lean into the turn with Grant on the outside Garth on the inside of the turn they make it out of the curve and over the next jump. But something goes wrong on Garth's bike and ends up crashing at the bottom of the hill. The teen rolls across the dirt while his bike took most of the impact. The motorcycle tumbles across the field and comes to a rest. Garth ended up off the track but was unharmed in the crash. Rich and the other racers maneuver there way around the crashed bike and the race continues. Garth slams his fist against the dirt because he's out of the race. Roy maintains 1st with Grant in 2nd, the green rider now identified as Terrance Bradshaw on the number 22 bike is in 3rd and Richard Grayson in 4th.

Grant races up behind Roy Harper and begins to pass him. Roy glances over at him and guns it up the hill. The red rider and orange rider soar through the air. Bradshaw wipes out in the 4th corner and takes a tumble. His green bike goes up on its front tire and flips over landing on its side. Richard passes him reclaiming 3rd place. Bradshaw removes his helmet revealing him as a blonde. He looks back and sees the pack of riders coming. Bradshaw tries getting out of the way. As the other riders swerve to avoid him they go to the outside that results in a cataclysmic pile-up crash involving about 5 or 6 racers. A racer that went to the outside is sideswiped by a second racer and sends his bike flipping in the air. Two more racers crash and there bikes downed as a third racer fell off his bike and the forth held on to his. A fifth rider stopped short but was rear-ended by the sixth and sent him flying. Pieces of the bikes go flying everywhere. The airborne rider soon landed on his back and skidded to a stop a way's from the crash. Remaining riders go to the inside of the track to avoid hitting them the race continues without showing any mercy. As Richard tries desperately to catch up to Harper and Emerson who are in first and second place respectively. As the other racers are catching up to him, Richard has no choice. He uses the nitro a second time and sends himself careening down the race track at 100 mph. An accident could prove fatal. Richard catches up to Grant and is now tied for second place as they head into the final leg of the race. He passes Grant over the hill and fires up the raceway trailing Roy Harper. Richard is on the inside then goes to the outside. He hit the throttle hard as he goes on the outside to pass Harper. Roy sees him over his shoulder; Roy goes full on throttle as they race toward the next hill. Richard's too far to the outside and is riding the edge of the track. They jump the last hill. The two of them soar through the air for what seems like an eternity. All the people are on there feet. They were coming back down to earth. But Richard misses the hill and goes off course, the audience watched in terror, as his bike crashed on it's front tire sideways and sends Richard flying. He hits the ground hard and tumbled across the ground in horrifying fashion his body like a rag doll as tumbled head over heels across the ground at 50 mph, bones cracking and breaking his uniform being ripped apart as he rolled across the ground. He came to a rest on his back. His motorcycle shattered as it flew across the ground parts flying in every direction. The bike flipped end over end. The plastic body disintegrated. The major components being ripped off the bike, the bike spun around on its rear tire with its destroyed front tire pointing straight up and engine finally died and the bike landed on its side and came to a rest not far from its thrashed rider.

Screams of fright rang out as Roy Harper crossed over the finish line. He looked back and saw the wreck. Immediately he abandoned his bike threw off his helmet and ran to Richard's aid having forgotten about his long awaited win. Other racers ran over to him as soon as they had finished the race. A squad of six brightly colored racers ran to the aid of their fellow racer. Bruce stood in complete shock and instinctively ran to his son. Back home his friends had seen the horrific accident.

Kori sat there in shock. She fainted her head collapsing onto Vic's shoulder. Slade couldn't believe what happened, his eyes were the size of dinner plates. His best friend injured. The entire room of 16 people was silent.

An ambulance pulled up to the crash scene as the group of racers blocked the view of the cameras. They watched as the paramedics lifted Richard into the ambulance, Bruce climbed in the back as they shut the doors and drove off.

_Please review. _


	21. Assassin

_Author's Note: First off I wanted to say that I'm sorry for the long wait. I've been busy with school and I struggled a bit with this chapter. I'm not sure if its any good or not. I hope it is. Probably not my best work, but I promise that the next chapter will be better. _

Chapter 21

"Assassin"

Richard had awoken in a hospital a few hours later, his world was spinning and his head was throbbing something wicked. As the room came into view he saw someone sitting in a chair under the TV.

"What happened?" Richard asked.

"You overshot the hill numb nuts." Came an all too familiar voice.

Why did it have to be him all of people? Richard looked over and to his dismay saw the winner of the Astrocross sitting in the chair across from him. The red headed teen continued to belittle him.

"Honestly what the hell were you thinking cutting to the outside like that? You know for an undefeated rider that was a really stupid move. " The champion said.

"Shut up Roy. What are you doing here anyway?" Richard asked.

"Your dad told me to watch you while he went to get lunch. Said you might try something stupid like walking out of here. Fat chance of that happening." Roy told him.

Richard sat up in bed with a questioning look on his face.

"Why did you help me back there?"

"Are you really that dense or was that after you smashed your head into the ground?" Roy asked.

Rich just sat there without answering him Roy had enough. He did his job and wasn't going to stay in here a moment longer.

"Wait, you can at least tell me where we are. Is this Houston?" Rich asked.

"We're home." Roy said standing at the doorway never facing him.

"I'm going out to get some air. Stay in here or I'll break your legs myself." He said leaving the hospital room.

"Jerk." Richard said under his breath, he was glad to have that guy out of his hair.

Roy went straight for the elevator and went down. Downstairs Bruce Wayne was sitting in the cafeteria eating and reading the paper. Vic, Slade, Gar and Raven were sitting at a table a few rows down eating and talking amongst themselves they had just visited Richard earlier. On the restaurant's TV they was showing highlights from yesterday's race and replayed Richard's crash. Roy entered the restaurant and sat down at a bar table after he sat down with his food he was approached by Kori.

"How is he?" she asked.

"He just woke up. Dickhead's already shooting his mouth off." He told her.

"Why do you fight with him so much?" she asked him.

"I just don't like the guy." He said taking a bite out of a donut hole.

"There's more to it than that. You guys were once best friends." she said.

"That was a long time ago Kori."

"What happened all those years ago?" she asked him.

"I don't want to talk about it Kori."

"He told me about it once. He blames you for the accident." she said.

"Of course he does." Roy said matter-of-factly. "All right, you remember that race up at the dirt track 5 years ago?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, best start at the beginning. Back in the 2nd grade we were inseparable. Both of us were into the same things, especially Motocross. My dad got us into riding dirt bikes Richard was addicted to it. We used to be teammates my dad was the coach. We won a lot of races even won a championship together when we were 12. Then the next season everything changed. It was the regional championship at our home track. It was the last leg of the race and had less than a lap to go. I was in 2nd place and Rich was in 3rd. He was riding right on my tail as we came around a corner. We came over a jump when I landed my wheels locked up and Richard smashed into the side of my rear tire and was thrown from his bike. He broke his leg when he fell and was out for the rest of the season. As you said earlier he blamed me for the accident. We broke up the team, Rich went to race for his Dad's company. That's the way it's been ever since." The racer concluded.

Kori stared at the table with a downcast look. "I'm sorry."

Roy shook his head "Forget it, our friendship died years ago."

Roy took a sip of his coffee and continued eating. Up on the main floor the doors slid open and a man walks in. he had long black hair that swept over his eyes, dark sunglasses, a hat and regular street clothes. Walking past the front desk, he entered the lobby and headed towards the elevator the doors opened and he went in alone.

The elevator doors opened and he stepped onto the sixth floor of the hospital. The man walked down the hallway past the waiting room. He walked past a desk filled with busy nurses, too busy to notice him walk by. He turned right and disappeared down another hallway. The elevator doors open again, Roy steps out and makes his way back to which he came from. The mysterious man opens the door to Richard's room and shuts it behind him. Monitors are beeping as he entered the room all was quiet. The motorcycle racer lay fast asleep in the bed next to the window. The man crept across the floor and stopped in front of Richard's bed. From under his long black bangs a sinister smile cracked the corner of his mouth. Roy walked up the hallway towards Richard's door when he noticed that it was cracked open, he was certain he shut the door when he left. The man slowly walked alongside Rich's bed and reached into his pocket taking out a needle. He looked at the IV line that was stuck in the boy's hand. Taking the needle he begins to insert it into the IV line. Roy opens the door light comes flooding in, to his shock he saw the man standing over Rich with a needle in hand. It was no doctor.

"Hey!" Roy yelled.

The stranger looked up and saw Roy standing in the doorway; Rich immediately woke up and grabbed the man when he realized what was happening. Roy charged into the room drawing his fist back he punched the man right square in the eyes, the man crashed into the wall. The would-be assassin quickly got to his feet.

"You just made a big mistake." said the man.

"Bring it." said Roy.

The assassin charged Roy who was ready for him. Roy threw the first punch the man blocked. Roy quickly jabbed with his right fist. The man blocked again drawing back his fist he swings at Roy who ducks and returns with his own jab. The man avoids the blow and jumped forward and punched Roy in the stomach followed with a second punch to the face. The teen stumbles backwards as the man charged him with another swing to the face Roy dodges it and hits him in the chest. The man takes a step back with Roy charging again. Roy delivers a swift side kick the man grabs his leg with one arm holding it against his side. Roy struggles then leaps and kicked him in the jaw with his remaining foot. The assassin flies through the air crashing into a bedside table with a pan full of small medical contents. Roy picks himself up off the floor and goes over to the man who surprised him by stabbing Roy in the leg with a dirty needle, he yells out in pain, the assassin sweeps his foot and knocks Roy to the ground. He jumps over the boy and runs. Roy is on the ground in the fetal position as he pulls the syringe out of his ankle. He tackles the man from behind and begins pummeling him. The man elbows him in the face to knock him off. The man gets to his feet, seeing that he has some business to take care of. Roy tries getting up but is kicked in the face by the man and knocks him flat on his back. The man walks over and steps on Roy's chest pinning him. As Roy struggles, the man smiles sinisterly as he went to pull out a gun with silencer.

"Sorry kid, this is going to hurt me a lot more than it does you." the man said.

Something hits him in the back of the head and the man collapses with Richard standing behind him with a fire extinguisher in hand. Roy pushes the man off himself. The gun slides under a nearby cart table.

"You all right?" Rich asked putting aside the fire extinguisher.

"Yeah, thanks." Roy said. Rich offers his hand and pulls him up.

"Looks like we're even." Richard said still in his hospital gown.

The man quickly recovers to the boys' surprise. He got to his knees cradling the back of his head. This man was exceptionally resilient. He turned facing them wielding a switchblade knife. The two of them resumed fighting stance.

Roy scoffs at his newfound _partner_. "You honestly gonna fight him like this?"

"You think I'm going to sit on the sidelines?" Rich quipped.

"Stay out of the way." Roy said as he charged the man.

Roy kicks the knife out of the assassin's hand. Roy spins and kicks the man with his other foot. The villain staggers back. He charges the teen with fists flying, Roy dodges them and kicks him again in the chest, knocking him back a step. Richard runs around behind Roy and jumps in the air. He punches the criminal in the face and sends him crashing into a hospital bed.

"Did I ask for your help?" Roy said annoyed.

"You're getting it anyway." Rich told him.

In the blink of an eye, the assassin jumped up and was back in Rich's face. The two of them exchanged rapid punches, they blocked one another blow for blow. Richard couldn't believe how fast this guy was. He kicked Richard in the chest and sent him sliding across the floor. Roy joined the fray threw a couple of lightspeed punches The Man dodged each thrust and returned multiple punches to Roy's body before he had time to react. The man gave him one last punch to the face. Roy staggered backward clutching his nose. He growled as he looked up at his adversary. The Man stretched out his arm, half a dozen strips of white cloth shoot out from his sleeve, they wrap around Roy's arm bound tight.

"What the hell is this?!"

The bandages tightened, Roy struggled against them. The villain snickered as he held the strips in his hand; with a twist of his waist he sent Roy flying through the air, crashing through a window and sends the boy to his doom. Retracting the bandages as he disposed him. Richard charges him.

"Bastard!"

Richard charged him, the man only laughed as he vanished before Rich's eyes. He skids to a stop and punched the floor in frustration. A second later Bruce and the others ran into the room.

"What happened?" Bruce asked.

"A guy came in here and attacked me…. he threw Roy out the window."

Kori gasped as a look of shock was on everyone's faces. Rich stood at the window.

"After everything we've been through. He tried to help me." Rich said never facing them.

Kori and Bruce came up to him stopping a few inches short. Slade, Tara, Gar, Vic and Raven stood on the opposite end. They couldn't believe what just happened. Kori reached out her hand to touch his shoulder. They stood in silence.

"I couldn't save him. Me of all people." Rich thought to himself. 

Kori placed her hand on his shoulder, he sighed bowing his head. Tara buried her head in Gar's chest. He wrapped his arms around her, as she wept softly. Raven looked away, she couldn't bear the sight. Vic hung his head and Slade sat down on the foot of the bed. Bruce stood over his son, sadness reflecting off his persona. Raven went to sit down next to Slade on the bed, he put his arm around she rested her crown against his chest. Bruce placed his hand on Rich's other shoulder. Kori put her arms around Richard and embraced one another. The room fell silent.

"Hey can anyone hear me?!" yelled a voice from outside.

Everyone's ears perked and heads pop up. It was Roy! They ran to the window too see him hanging onto the side of the building 2 stories below them.

"Somebody pull me up!" he yelled again.

A window opened above Roy's head as nurses and doctors on that floor began pulling him back into the building. In a flash the gang ran downstairs. Where they found him standing in the building where the doctors and nurses surrounded him. The gang runs into the room, minus one person. They breathed a sigh of relief knowing he's alive.

"Son are you all right?" one doctor asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little shook up." Roy answered.

The doctor shined a light in his eye, checking him for any signs of trauma. While the doctors and nurses were assessing the situation Vic noticed someone was missing.

"Hey has anybody seen Mr. Wayne?" he asked.

Miles away the assassin appears from out of a shadowy void. He walked down the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets.

"Well that was a bust. May not have been the person I was aiming for but at least I managed to get rid of one of them. Heh. Guess one fatality is better than nothing." He said sinisterly.

He heard a noise, the sound of a cape ruffling he looked up and saw The Batman flying towards him on a line. Driving his foot into the man's chest and sends him flying. He landed on his back and slid across the ground. Batman confronts the man that tried to kill his son and nearly killed Roy Harper.

"Who are you?"

"Heh heh heh. You can call me Mr. Mayhem." He said.

Batman's eyes narrowed into slits. "Who hired you?" he asked.

"Now, now mustn't tell secrets." He taunted before shooting several strips of bandages.

When Batman went to avoid them one of the strips cut his face he dodged and tumbled out of the way. Leaping into the air he plants his foot into Mayhem's chest. Knocking him back several steps, and tumbles to the ground. Mr. Mayhem fired a strip of bandage wrapping around the Dark Knight's leg and hurling him high in the air. Mayhem got to his feet. Bandages emerged from his back. He leaps in the air and slices Batman with his deadly bandages in midair. The Dark Knight fell to the ground hard. He rolls over tries to get up. Mayhem landed on his feet and walked toward him. With his killer strips waving around behind him, he stands over the fallen Knight.

"Your not so tough." He said.

The Batman surprised him by taking his feet out from under him. Batman gets to one knee, the villain quickly rolled to safety getting back to his feet. The Caped Crusader charges him. Mr. Mayhem shoots more bandages from the sleeves of his jacket. Using his cape as a shield Batman continues towards him. Many of the bandages are deflected some of them tearing the cape. Mayhem continued attacking him, Batman spun holding out his cape, his fist shoots out from under the cape and nails him right in the face. Mayhem smashed into the wall breaking the wall's surface. Batman grabs him by the shirt and flips him over his shoulder slamming him into the ground with a resounding thud.

Grabbing him by the collar he picks Mayhem up off the ground and looked him straight in the eye.

"No more games. Who do you work for?"

"I'm not telling you anything"

"Then I'll just beat it out you." Batman growled.

"Try it!" Mayhem yelled.

Scores of lethal bandages shot out of his back and wrapped around Batman's body binding his arms, legs and torso. The Dark Knight struggled as he was lifted above the ground by Mayhem. A figure watched them from above the street. Mayhem flashed a sinister smile as the bandages tightened around Batman's body. He could feel the veins swell up in his arms and body about to burst. He groaned in pain as the bandages constricted. He held Batman 7-8 feet off the ground. His body couldn't take much more of this and tried desperately to reach his Utility Belt but couldn't. Mayhem laughed at his plight. A green blast of energy came down from the sky destroying the bandages and hit Mayhem in the chest. The force of the blast knocked the both of them to the ground.

"Where did that come from?" Mayhem said outraged.

Batman cut off the bandages with a Batarang he looked up and saw a girl in black battle armor landing in front of him.

"You are The Batman, yes?" she asked.

"And you are?" the Dark Knight asked.

"Well, well looks like we have an uninvited guest." Mr. Mayhem said.

Batman and Starfire redirected their attention toward the assassin getting into fighting stance. Mr. Mayhem smiled at Starfire.

"I must admit you are kind of hot. Maybe I'll get under that armor and get to know you a little better." He said.

An infuriated Starfire launched herself at Mayhem he shot his bandages at her. Starfire deflected them with her armor and sent him crashing through a brick wall. The next instant she had him pinned to the ground holding him down by the throat.

"Why did you attack those two boys? Who do you work for?" she demanded.

Mr. Mayhem chuckled. "If I wasn't going to tell Batman what makes you think I'd tell you?" he asked.

He grabbed her wrist and sent an electrical charge through her. Causing a greater jolt because of her armor and tossed her aside. Batman leapt in the air. Mr. Mayhem shoots a blast of energy from his hand. The Dark Knight dodged it and throws a batarang at him. The villain flipped over backwards and got to his feet. He hurls another energy blast at the airborne Caped Crusader and misses. Batman kicks him squarely in the chest and sends him sliding across the ground on his back. The Dark Knight charges him again, throwing two batarangs at him; the criminal blocks them with his arms. Batman punches him in the face and knocks him back. Mr. Mayhem wrapped his bandages around Batman's left arm knocking him forward. Regaining his footing he grabs hold of the bandages with his free hand as Mr. Mayhem tightens his hold on him. By this time Starfire recovered and was airborne again. He goes to fire an energy blast its deflected by her armor, Starfire flies in and punches him hard across the face. She punched him again in the stomach with a knee-buckling blow. She brings her hands together high above her head to deliver a sledgehammer blow to the back of his head. Batman pulls on the line he's attached to pull the crook away to prevent her from killing him. She struck him between his neck and shoulder as he collapses to the ground. Batman frees himself with a batarang. The Tamaranian grabs Mayhem by the collar, as he looks straight into her visor.

"Easy. We want him alive." Batman tells her.

"This man attacked one of my friends!" she said angrily Batman's eyes widened in surprise.

"I can't let him go unpunished." She said her voice breaking.

"That's the police's job." He told her.

"Then what is your reason?" she demanded.

The Batman stood there for a second knowing she was right. They heard a gunshot and in slow motion saw a bullet go through his head killing him instantly. The two of them looked up and saw a man on the roof. Starfire immediately took off after him. When on the roof she found the killer and couldn't believe her eyes. It was the Red Hood.

Red Hood began to disappear as an enraged Starfire charged him at full speed her eyes and fists glowing. The criminal vanished as she struck the place where he'd previously stood leaving behind his mocking laughter. The Batman landed on the roof a moment later.

"Damn." She said softly. Immense anger building up inside of her, she punched the ground causing it to crack she threw her head back and screamed "Dammit!"

An hour later they were back in their civilian identities in the Richard's hospital room. Everybody was there. They moved him to a larger room in light of the attack. Most of Richard's friends stood near his bed Bruce was right by his side. Thinking to himself. Kori sat in a chair away from the group, thinking back on what happened. She couldn't believe that somebody had attacked Richard. His surrounding friends were showing an equal if not greater amount of concern over their friend. In the bed next to him laid Roy Harper who had been thrown out a window earlier thwarting the assassination. The hospital ordered that he stayed the night for observation. Armed guards were stationed outside the hospital room. Who would want to attack Richard and for what reason? That is a question that may never be answered.

_Author's Note: Well...what did you think? Again I'm sorry if this chapter wasnt the greatest. I've been going through a hard time with the recent death of a loved one. And getting my car wrecked last night. Its kinda been a trying time for me. I can really use some positive reviews to lift my spirits. Thanks to everyone for bearing with me and I hoped this was good enough. Leave a review and let me know what you think. _

_Green Gallant_


	22. Winter Dance, Part 1

_Author's Note: Sorry for the wait guys. I hope you'll enjoy this new chapter. Even though it wasnt orginally planned this will be a two-part chapter. I hope everyone enjoys this. _

Chapter 22

The Winter Dance, part 1

The sun rose over the California horizon, shining brightly over the costal city of San Antholas. As it peeked in through the windows a sleeping Richard Grayson turns over in his covers and faces the wall, blocking out the sunlight as best he could. The sun extended its radiance through the far reaches of the city. In the neighborhoods, the light reached the home of Kori Anders. She slept peacefully as it radiance warmed her cheeks. In Cami's room the sunlight peeked through her blinds and curtains. As the dim morning light crept across the floor of her room. In her black canopy bed slept Cami, leaving one of curtains to her bed open with her facing the wall. The sunlight filtered through the blinds as the rays warmed the tan-skinned beauty's bare back. In a room down the hall the sun was shining brightly in little brother Ryan's room. As he slept with the covers thrown off. Right next door at Vic's house the light was piercing through the blinds in his darkened room. Up the street Tara slept peacefully in her bed with the covers halfway off her body wearing a black tank top and yellow pants. Down the hallway her little niece/sister Tawny Markov was fast asleep hugging a teddy bear. And at the end of the hallway there parents Greg and Clarissa slept in each other's arms. In another neighborhood slept Raven in a black nightgown, the straps hanging down around her shoulders. Sleeping on her right shoulder facing the window through which morning has not arrived yet. On another side of town Gar yawned and got up out of bed, scratching his head he went to the door taking a towel and closing the door behind him. Farther out on the city's northeast side at the Wintergreen Mansion, Slade was still fast asleep with a pillow pulled over his head.

A few hours later it was midmorning several of them had already gotten up. Among them were Raven, Kori, and Cami. But several of them continued to sleep. Richard was doing his best to block out the sunlight to get some more sleep. Tara hadn't even woken up yet. Over at Slade's house the alarm clock just went off filling the room old time Rock 'n Roll. The silver haired teen mumbled in his sleep lying face down in the pillow.

Later that morning the girls were getting phone calls from each other. They had agreed to meet at the mall to try on dresses for the dance tonight. While the girls went out shopping the guys were going to race. They arrived at the racetrack sometime later. Rich in his red '89 Corvette SS Convertible, Slade in his black '01 Mercedes-Benz SLK 320, Vic in his silver 2000 Ford F-150 pick up and Gar in his green '99 Pontiac Grand-Am GT. the four of them got out of there cars and walked up to go over the plan. Rich high fived Slade as they all gathered around.

"All right, glad everybody can make it. This is the plan 5 laps around the track. Best out of 3 wins." Rich explained.

"You guys ready?" said Slade.

"Yeah!" went everyone.

"What are we waiting for? Let' burn rubber!" said Vic.

"One warm-up lap and then its game on." Slade told everyone.

"You got it dude!" said Gar.

The guys ran back to there cars and pulled onto the racetrack. The Corvette, Mercedes, F-150 and Grand Am headed into the first turn in the warm-up lap. Rich acted as pace car with his Vette. The four of them drove in a line up the racetrack at regular speed. They gradually speed up as they made there way around the track.

60..65..75...80..85...90..95..100…

They continued gaining speed as they made there way around the third turn. Soon the race would begin.

105…110…120…130…

Coming out of the last turn they break apart formation and the race starts. And its Richard Grayson in first place driving the Chevy at 135mph. In second is Slade Wilson in the Mercedes at 133 mph in third is Gar Logan driving the Pontiac at 128 mph and bringing up the rear is Vic Stone in the Ford pickup at 123 mph. Vic passes Gar on the inside taking third place early in the race. Richard maintains the lead behind Slade Wilson. Slade goes to the inside to pass him as they head into the first turn. And coming out of the turn is Slade Wilson in first place. Vic Stone goes to overtake Richard to take second place. Leaving Richard down to third. And Gar Logan in forth place. Down the backstretch Vic goes to the outside to pass Slade Wilson and is running side by side with him. He inches up and he passes him! Victor Stone is now in first place. He rockets down the track at 148 mph. With Slade in Second, Richard in Third and Gar in forth. Gar goes to the inside to pass Rich. And is running beside him. Victor Stone is the first one across with the first lap under his belt he barrels down the raceway with Slade in Second. Richard pulls away from Gar to give him a slight lead over the green Pontiac. The two racers fan out Gar on the inside and Rich on the out. Slade maintains a lead over the two of them but not for long as Richard goes to pass him on the outside. He's gaining on him but he still has a long way to go and Victor Stone is half a lap in front of his fellow racers. Rich is riding on the tail of veteran racer Slade Wilson behind his right rear tire. Gar pulls away to the inside and blazes past the two of them and up the raceway putting himself in second place. Vic comes around the third turn and blows past them at 160 mph and laps them. Completing the second lap of the race. Rich and Victor hit the Nitrous Oxide boosters and launch themselves down the raceway after the leader at 160 mph. And leaving Garfield Logan in the dust passing on either side of him. The Corvette and the Mercedes rocket up the road after Vic. They blow past him with Slade having a slight lead over Rich Grayson. Slade crosses the line taking Vic's down by one lap with Richard in second place, Vic in third and Gar in forth.

They race up the track at 160 mph with Rich and Gar following close behind. Vic hits the nitro and kicked it up to 162mph catching up with current leader Slade Wilson as the two of them battle for first place. Richard is stuck behind them in second with Gar gaining on him on the inside of the track. They head into the second turn with Vic in first place leading by half a car length and Slade in Second. Rich is in third but Gar is starting to pull ahead of him and does taking him up to third place and knocking Richard down to last place. Richard goes wide to the inside of the track's edge and guns it with the second Nitro Boost. He lines himself up next to Gar as they battle for second and Slade and Vic fight for first. Vic has the lead over Slade in the silver Ford. Rich pushes himself over and takes the lead over Gar Logan. As the red Corvette takes over third Slade isn't about to give in. as he ignites the second nitro boost and taking it up to 170mph, maximum speed. On the outside of the track he passes Vic by inches crossing the line before Vic and ties the race two laps to two.

"Yee-haw!" Slade cried punching the air.

But it's not over yet as they head into the last lap of the race. Richard has switched up with Vic and now takes second place. As they race around the backstretch for the final lap. Coming out of the turn they speed up, all though it's hard to say how much faster they can go. Racing in a straight line they extend the gap between them. Richard shifts into a higher gear as he tries to pass Slade. He pulls up behind his friend as they head into the next turn. Rich goes to the outside coming through the turn and is midway up to Slade. The front tires of his car by Slade's passenger door He tries to give it more gas to pass but isn't able to because he's at maximum speed. At this point Rich tries to think of ways to get more power through his engine so he can pass Slade and at least finish one lap in first. As his mind runs through probable possibilities his eyes search for the answer. He could use the second booster to jump ahead. But didn't he already use that? If he did then he can't use it again he's sunk! He looked up and saw the corner wall only a couple feet away he made a hard left turn and goes wide to the inside of the track. Nearly going off road. His left front tire grazes the grass as he pulls himself back onto the racetrack avoiding an unnecessary and nasty crash. His tires spin as he desperately getting back into the race of which Vic had taken his spot in second place, dropping him down to last place. In a drastic move Rich slows down below the 120mph mark and then speeds back up hitting the second booster he rocket down the track at 165 mph and is back in the race riding side by side with Vic. Rich shifts again as the gages rise and he takes the car to its highest speed and shoots to the outside. They cross the finish line. And it's Slade Wilson in first place follow by Rich Grayson in second Vic Stone in close third and Gar Logan finishing in last place.

After lapping the track one final time they begin to slow down gradually until they're below the triple digits and slowing from 90-80-70 and continued slowing down until they were able to come to a safe stop. The drivers all got out of their cars and walked back to each other. Several of them were panting each of them wiping the sweat from there brows.

"That was a great race Rich. You almost had me for a second." Slade said.

"Yeah I know." His friend said.

"What happened back there?" Vic asked.

"I don't know. I got distracted by something and nearly plowed into that wall." Rich explained.

"Well at least your all right." Said Gar.

"Yeah. Hey good race. I said best 3 out of 5 and it looks like you beat us." Rich said to Slade.

"Thanks. Vic you were pretty awesome today. You lead us the first two laps. That's the best I've seen you do in a long time." Said Slade.

"Yeah man, I thought you were going to beat us for a while." Gar added.

"Thanks guys. Guess I should race the truck more often." Vic said.

"Well thats two races I lost now." Said Rich.

"You'll get 'em next time." Said Slade.

Later that day after the rest of them went home. Slade was driving down the road going past Raven's house when he looked and saw her sitting in a tree. Perplexed by this he pulled into the driveway and walked across the yard to where she was. He looked up at her with a look of utter confusion.

"Raven?"

"Hey Slade."

"What are you doing up there? I thought you were out with Kori and Tara? The dance is going to start in a couple hours." He said.

"I left the mall hours ago. I'm not big on shopping." She said swinging her legs back and forth.

"Is everything all right?" he asked.

"I'm fine. I just like to come up here and think." She said.

"Since when?" he asked.

Raven shrugged. "I dunno I just came up here one day to watch the sunset and I've been coming up here ever since. And you better not be looking up my skirt down there." She said.

A smile came to his face "Now what'd give you that idea?"

"Number 1 you're a guy. Number 2 I know you better than that and number 3…"

"Number 3 you put up with me anyway." He joked.

"Yes." She said.

"Can I come up?" he asked.

"I guess so. If there's enough room." She said.

"Cool." He said as he started climbing.

"Uh you may want to take your shoes off first. It makes it easier to climb." She said. Raven was barefoot.

Slade shrugged and took off his old skool Converse sneakers and then climbed up the tree. She was sitting in the fork of the tree. Slade grabbed a hold of one of the stronger branches as he made his up. She scooted over leaning against another strong branch as he plopped herself down on his lap.

"Its beautiful isn't it?" she said.

"Aside from the stick prodding my butt, yeah it is nice." He said.

Raven only chuckled she reached behind him and broke the stick off the tree.

"Thanks." He said.

She leaned her head against his chest wrapping her arm around his stomach as they watched the sunset together.

All across town students were getting ready for the big Winter Carnival Dance just a few hours away. With the guys getting into the suits and the girls getting into their dresses, next to Prom this is one of the biggest dances of the year at Xavier High School. Kori and Tara had gotten back from there shopping and were getting into their dresses. With an hour to go Richard walked down the hall to the garage where Alfred met him.

"Shall I drive you and Miss Anders to the dance tonight?" the butler asked.

"That won't be necessary Alfred." Richard said.

"Oh, pity." He said.

"I'll be taking the Vette tonight." He said.

"I made some adjustments to your car while you were up getting dressed. You really should treat that car a little better. It's the last one to come out of the 80s."

"Thanks Alfred. I'll try and keep that in mind." He said.

"Drive safe tonight young master. And Dick…"

Richard turned around to face him.

"…I mean it." Alfred said pointing his finger at him.

Rich smiled. "I will Alfred. Thanks again." He said running to his car.

He jumps in over the driver's door starts it up. The headlights flip up from under the hood the engine roars and tires squeal as he peels out of the garage turning around a corner and passing Alfred on the way out.

Miles outside of the city in the depths of the haunted mansion, evil was planning to strike. The Dark Lord Ryan Trigon stood in the depths of his lair with his scepter in hand he called out to his servant.

"Malchior come forth." Ryan ordered. The knight reluctantly walked up to him.

"Yes master."

"As Red Hood has already proven, we can be seen by the humans. I want you to go on reconnaissance and infiltrate their high school."

Malchior nodded his head in understanding. "As you decree Master."

The scarlet knight raised his shield/sword to the sky a demonic red glow emanated from his body. In a flash he was transformed into a handsome young man in a red suit, black shirt and white tie. His long black hair was tied back in a ponytail. And his eyes were bright blue.

"You know what to do." Said Ryan.

"I do." he nodded and vanished in a flash of red light.

Ryan chuckled malevolently as soon his plan will come to succession.

Later Richard pulled into the Anders' driveway. Shutting off the car he gets out and walks to the door and rang the doorbell. A moment later the door opened with Mr. Anders standing in the doorway.

"Well hello Richard, come in Kori will be down in a minute."

The larger-than-life man invited him in. Upstairs Kori was finishing putting on her dress. Her bare back facing the door with her dress brought up around her chest and she put on the straps. Richard sat down in a chair in the living room waiting on her. Galfore sat on the couch across from him. Cami and Ryan came downstairs.

"She'll be ready in a minute." Said Cami.

"All right thanks." Richard said.

No sooner had she said that, Kori comes downstairs in her pink sparkling gown. Rich looked up and saw her standing on the stairway.

"Wow." He said softly.

Kori blushed a bit and slowly made her way down the stairs. Rich stood up as she made her way to the foot of the stairs stopping on the deck. Richard came over to her wearing a black suit and red tie. He stood on the other end of the stair deck before her.

"You look great." He said.

"Thanks." She said blushing. "You look great too."

A light chuckle escaped his lips.

"Richard would you stand up there by Kori please?" Galfore asked taking out a camera.

"Um yeah, sure." He said.

He stepped up onto the staircase deck and stood next to Kori and put his arm around her middle. Kori placed her hand on his chest and held each other's hand with the other. Galfore took several pictures of the couple. Cami had out her camera phone and took a couple pictures of them at the same time. After standing there for several minutes they were finally done. Galfore made sure to have plenty of pictures of the young couple much to the embarrassment of Richard and Kori. They walked off the platform and onto the wooden floor. Kori walked up to her father. The old man smiled at her.

"You look so much like her." he said softly.

"I wish Mom was here to see this." She said.

"I know." The father drew her into his chest as a tear streamed down her cheek.

He wiped the tear from her eye. And kissed her on the brow.

"Your mother would have been proud." He said.

Kori nodded her head; Galfore put a hand to her cheek and told her.

"Go have fun."

The young girl sniffled as she drew away from her dad. In the hallway on a desk was a picture of a beautiful young woman with long black hair and purple eyes. The woman in the picture seemed to be in her 30s bearing an exact likeness of Cami wearing a white shirt unbuttoned down to the top of her chest.

"You ready Richard?" Kori asked.

"Yeah." he opened the door for her and left the house. When they were walking down the stairs out to his car he asked her.

"You all right?"

"Yeah I'm fine. Come on we're going to be late." She said.

**To Be Continued**

_Author's Note: I know this was kinda wierd place to leave it off at. But I hope that's all right with everyone. Trust me there's going to be some fireworks in the next chapter. Until then. _

_Please review everyone, let me know what you think!_

_Green Gallant. _


	23. Winter Dance, Part 2

_Author's Note: All right, I'm back with the latest installment of X High School. Hope you guys like this one. I'll be heading up to Wisconsin this weekend. So I wanted to get this out before I went on my trip. Hope you guys like it. _

Chapter 23

Winter Dance, Part 2

The high school gym was Rockin to the sound of dance music. Brightly colored lights were seen flashing from the large windows as cars were pulling up to the high school. Kori and Richard pulled up in his Corvette and parked next to Slade's Mercedes. They walked arm in arm toward the door. Paid their tickets and made there way inside. Once inside the gym was adorned in festive dark green and light gold metallic tapestries hanging from the walls and rafters. There were rows of tables and chairs with assorted decorations sitting beside the walls of the dance hall. With colorful strobe lights and a disco ball (yeah, why not?) _Emenem & Akon's "Smack That" _bled over the speakers. Richard and Kori walked into the gym hand in hand and saw several of their friends dancing among them were Slade and Raven. Slade was wearing a white dress shirt, black slacks and tie. And Raven was wearing a dark blue dress showing her cleavage, her bare back and splits in her skirts going up to her thighs. From the looks of it the two of them were having fun. The song ended and Kori and Rich walked up to them.

"Hey guys!" said Kori.

"Hey you made it." said Slade.

"Did you guys just get here?" Raven asked.

"Yeah we just did." Said Kori.

"Have you guys seen Gar and Tara?" Rich asked.

"There around here somewhere." Slade told him.

The slow music began to play as Slade and Raven drew each other close. Kori took Rich's hand and drew him over a ways. As they drew each other into their arms the introduction chorus began. The two of them danced under the dimmed lights. On the far side of the gym next to the wall and a way's from the DJ's table Gar and Tara danced. Gar was wearing a blue suit and red tie. And Tara was wearing a light blue sparkling off the shoulder dress. Gar smiled at his girlfriend.

"You look great tonight Tara."

"Aww, thanks so do you."

_Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers "Free Fallin'"_ played over the speakers as they slow danced together. They moved side to side ever so slightly as she rested her head in his chest. He smiled as he rested his cheek on the back of her neck. They moved around in a small circle dancing to the music.

She's a good girl 

_Loves her mamma_

_Loves Jesus_

_And America too_

_She's a good girl_

_Is crazy about Elvis_

_Loves horses_

_And her boyfriend too… _(cuts ahead to chorus)

…_And I'm free!_

_Free fallin'_

_Yeah I'm free! _

_Free fallin' _

On the other side of the gym Rich and Kori slowly danced. Richard crossed his arms around her back drawing her closer to him as they danced in mid-chorus.

And I'm free! 

_Free Fallin' _

_Yeah I'm free! _

_Free fallin' _

Kori kissed him on the cheek as she let out a breathless gasp. Richard turned and kissed her lips and on her neck as the continued dancing. She opened her eyes as she gazed into his and returned his kiss.

A way's away from them danced Slade and Raven. The two of them danced in slow two-step fashion as he held her waist and rested her hands on his arms. He placed his cheek next to hers a soft pink blush appeared from under Raven's eyes.

Yeah I'm free! 

_Free fallin' oh! _

_(Free fallin. I'm a free fallin.)_

_Free fallin'_

_(Free fallin' I'm a free fallin)_

_I'm free! Oh! _

_Free Fallin' _

The song came to an end as the lights brightened a bit and after a brief while was replaced by upbeat dance music. The couples pulled apart from each other. Kori smiled at Rich as he smiled back at her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him an affectionate hug. Slade and Raven smiled at each other, as she placed a hand on his cheek. Gar and Tara had each other in a hug, not wanting to budge for the world. But soon the dance club music started and she drew away from him. Tara walked off the dance floor he smiled as he watched her walk off. Tara met up with the other four at a table next to the dance floor.

While they were talking to each other, a disguised Malchior came into the gym wearing his red suit and black dress shirt and white tie and his long black hair tied back into a ponytail. He coolly and confidently made his way across the gym floor. When he saw Raven and the others talking together, he smiled and made slowly made his way over to them. He straightened his tie and ran his hands across the sides of his slicked back hair and approached them. Raven and Slade were standing while the others were sitting. When Raven left the group he finally approached her.

"Excuse me." he said.

"Oh hi." She said.

"Would you like to dance?" he asked her smiling.

"I'm here with my boyfriend." She said.

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind." Said Malchior.

Raven looked at him unsure. He reached out lightly touched her wrist. She felt a strange feeling come over her.

"Come on, just one little dance." He said eyes glowing red.

Raven was overcome by his magic as a soft red glow appeared in her eyes.

"All right." she said.

The glow in both their eyes went away. He smiled as he took her by the hand and led her out to the dance floor. Once in the middle of the dance floor they assumed their respective positions. He placed his hands on her sides and she placed hers on his shoulders and they began dancing.

Back at the tables Tara looked up and noticed her dancing with someone. Curious she leaned over next to Richard and whispered.

"Hey do you see Raven dancing with that guy over there?" she asked him.

Richard looked across the room and saw them dancing together.

"Yeah I do." He said.

"Have you ever seen that guy before?" she asked.

"No. Hey Kori do you see that guy over there?" Richard asked.

"Where?"

"Dancing with Raven," he said.

Kori looked and saw her dancing with a stranger.

"I've never seen him before," she said.

"You think we should tell Slade?" he asked.

"Let's wait and see what happens first." she told him.

"Its probably nothing." He said.

"Well it just became something. Here comes Slade." Tara pointed out.

As the young blonde pointed out Slade was walking across the dance to where Raven and Malchior are dancing. Generally, Slade wasn't the jealous type, except for when Kori and Richard were seeing each other behind his back. But in this instant he looked quite pissed.

"Hey excuse me." Slade said grabbing Malchior's shoulder and spinning him around.

"That's _my_ date your dancing with." he said in an authoritative tone.

"Oh sorry. She didn't tell me." the black-haired teen replied.

Raven poked her head with a glazed expression over her eyes.

"Relax, Slade." Rae said nearly sounding drunk.

Slade could tell something wasn't right; the room was dark so he couldn't see Raven's eyes. At that same time Cascadia's _"Everytime We Touch" _started playing. Raven lazily leaned back and her and Malchior started dancing to the next song. Slade stood there stunned. He knew something was up. He didn't know what. But he knew this wasn't the Raven he knew. They danced through the first verse of the song Slade walked over to them he grabbed Malchior's shoulder.

"You mind if I cut in?" he asked.

Malchior glanced at him for a second then decided to relinquish. He stepped back and allowed Slade to take over. Raven had the same drunken expression on her face. As soon as he took a hold of her hand she began to come back to herself.

"Rae, who was that guy?" he asked as they danced.

Raven shook herself awake. "What guy?" she asked.

"The dude you were just dancing with." he said tilting his head toward Malchior.

"I don't know." She said honestly. _"I don't remember anything." _She thought to herself.

"Have you been drinking tonight?" he asked her.

"No, why?"

"Forget it." he shook his head.

When the song had ended, Slade sighed with relief knowing that whatever happened was over. At least, that's what he thought. Before the next song started Malchior tapped him on the shoulder.

"You mind if I have the next dance with her?" he asked.

"Get your own date." Slade told him and turned his back.

Malchior stood there with a disapproving look on his face. Just as Slade and Raven were turning to leave he placed his hand on Slade's shoulder and fell under the knight's control. Both there eyes were glowing a soft red.

"Why don't you sit this one out?" Malchior said to him through hypnotic suggestion.

Slade's arms fell limply to his sides as he shuffled off. Malchior then placed his hand on Raven's shoulder and put her back under his control. Her eyes glowed the same as he smiled wickedly. The next song started up and the ceiling lights shined focusing on the dance floor. There eyes stopped glowing and Raven turned to Malchior. The song started to play it was Evanescence _"Bring Me to Life" _

Malchior smiled as he danced with Rae swinging her around in a slow circle with one hand while a stupefied Slade sat in a chair with a blank look on his face. Kori and Tara came to his side.

"Slade? Are you ok?" Tara asked.

She waved her hand in front of his eyes. He didn't respond.

"Slade?" Kori said concerned. "Richard, come here!"

"What is it?" he asked coming around the table.

Kori looked up at him as he came over to there side. She didn't say anything as Richard bended down on one knee in front of his best friend.

"Slade? Buddy, you ok?" he asked placing his hands on both shoulders. His friend didn't answer him.

"What happened?" he asked looking up at Kori.

"We don't know. We just found him like this." She said shaking her head. At that same time Gar and Vic gathered round them.

"Slade, come on. Up and at 'em." Richard said snapping his fingers inches away from Slade's face.

"Slade?" Tara said she lightly shook his shoulder.

"Get me some water." Richard said looking back at Kori, Gar and Vic. Gar runs off to grab a glass of water and returns a few seconds later.

Giving the plastic cup to Rich. Tara helps lean Slade's head back as Richard tries getting him to drink. The problem is he's not opening his mouth. Tara put two fingers on his lips and tried to open his mouth. The guys are getting real concerned. As the five of them hovered around gathered in a tight circle. Could something be wrong with him?

"Anyone seen Raven?" Gar asked.

Vic looked up and saw her dancing with Malchior.

"The hell is she doing?" Vic said and went over to tell her what had happened.

By this time Slade had finally come around. His eyes blinked and he leaned forward in his chair groaning holding his head.

"Slade!" Tara cried.

"You ok?" Rich asked.

"Yeah I'm fine. Where's Raven?" he asked.

They all pointed out to her on the dance floor with Malchior. He growled and got out of his chair making a B-Line towards them to the surprise of his friends, who only moments ago was incapacitated. Once on the dance floor he made his way past several couples with an intense look on his face. He walked up to the couple and punched Malchior in the cheek and knocked him away from Raven. The music stopped abruptly as near-by couples stood in shock. The black haired teen staggered but then regained his composure.

"You think you can just waltz in here and steal my girlfriend?" Slade said.

Malchior wiped his mouth. "This has nothing to do with you."

"It has everything to do with Me." he said.

The house lights came on as everyone stood in surprise. Slade and Malchior circled around the center of the gym floor. Teachers and chaperones were starting to make there way over to them. Malchior smirked at Slade who wasn't the least bit amused. Out of the corner of his eye Mal saw the teachers coming towards them.

"What do you say lighten up this party?" Malchior said his voice had change dramatically with wickedness in his tone.

He drew his right fist up to his left shoulder twisted his torso winding up for an attack and launched a red energy bolt at Slade the blast missed him and hit the opposing wall exploding on impact. Screams of fright let out as he launched energy balls in all directions into the crowd sending students running for their lives. As the panic-stricken teens dashed for the doors Rich and the other went charging in to help Slade. As for Slade he was running towards Malchior with energy bursts flying everywhere. Slade punched him hard in the face and knocked him back. Malchior fired an energy blast right at his chest. The young teen managed to avoid being hit doing a series of back flips. Richard jumped in the air and drove his foot into Malchior's shoulder and sends him crashing to the floor. As Richard landed Kori and Tara ran up behind him and the three go to attack him as one. Malchior rolls back does a handstand and spins his legs around taking all three of them out at once. (Yes that was a break-dance move) once he's back on his feet. Slade jumps in out of nowhere with a swing of his fist. Malchior jumps back. Slade comes at him with a left. Malchior blocks with his hand, Slade swings with his right. Malchior grabs his other hand he turns around with the both of them facing back to back and catapults Slade through the air. Vic comes up behind him and swings his massive right arm. Malchior catches his arm and flips him over his shoulder with a loud thud. Kori goes at him hand-to-hand. She manages to hold her own for a time before he trips her and sends her to the floor. Gar comes at him and is easily taken down. Tara comes back with a spinning heel kick Malchior dodges it and returns with a front facing kick aiming for her chest. She dodges it and goes to attack him from the side with a series of chops but Malchior blocks them and knocks her to the floor with a spinning forearm strike to her side. Richard gets back there opening with a series of punches followed by some kicks. Malchior effortlessly dodges them and ducks his spinning kick. He brings both hands together and fires a blast sending Richard across the floor. Vic grabs him from behind holding both arms and Kori jumps up with a spinning heel to the face and makes contact. Malchior rolls across the floor lying there for a second before getting up. Blood was pouring from the corner of his mouth, feeling that his right cheek was broken.

Vic charged him yelling fiercely before he could reach him a power burst of red energy shot straight up the force sends Vic flying. Malchior had transformed back into his knight form. For the first time they saw him in his blood red armor with spiked shoulder pads. Armor plated pecs with the white "M" across the chest. Crimson spiked gauntlets and scarlet boots with skull knee guards and black under garment. His hair went from its slicked back ponytail to long spiky black hair and his eyes turned from blue to red. He carried in one hand a scarlet shield emblazoned with a black dragon and a sword and sheath affixed to the back of the shield.

"Who is this guy?" Vic said.

" I am Malchior, the Dragon Knight. And I've come for Raven." he said.

"You want her. You're going to have to go through us first." Richard said.

"Gladly." Malchior said.

The six of them charged, Malchior charged them back he holds out his shield to block the attacks of Tara and Kori. While the boys get past his shield and attack him full on. Even with there combined strength Malchior seemed stronger in this form as he was able to hold off several of his attackers at once and sent Richard and Slade flying. With a fling of his shield he knocked Tara and Kori off balance while he fought Vic. Even with one hand Malchior was a formidable foe he punched Vic in the chest and knocked him back. Tara and Kori attacked him from behind grabbing his white cape but weren't able to do much. As Vic tackled him again, Slade and Rich get back in they're accompanied by Gar and hold him down. They seemed more persistent this time. Even Malchior found he them to be a challenge. He summoned a blast of energy that sent them to the ground.

"Another time." he said

He backed away from the team rushes by and grabbed Raven who was still under his mind control spell and runs out of the gym.

"Stop!" Richard yells.

They rush to there feet and run after him. Malchior chuckles malevolently as he and Raven disappeared in shadows.

"Raven!" yelled Slade.

"No." said Tara.

"Raven." said Kori.

Richard punched the ground as hard as he could.

"I'm going after her." he said.

"I'm coming with you." said Kori.

"No you Cant." Said Richard.

"I can help." she said.

"No!" he said.

"She's our friend too. There's plenty we can do!" she said.

"YOU JUST CANT KORI!"

She stood there stunned. Richard ran out of the gym leaving all his friends speechless. Richard ran down the alley pulling out his communicator.

"Bruce come in Code Red!" he yelled into the device.

**To Be Continued**

_Author's Note: Ahh, I know I'm evil for doing this to poor Rae. What's going to happen to her? And who's going to save her? _

_Next time: The Winter Dance, Part 3. _

_Please reivew now. _


	24. Counter strike!

_Author's Note: Ok, so here we are the 3rd part of the Malchior Arc. I know you guys are going to love this chapter. Here we go, X High School Ch. 24: Conunterstrike. Enjoy_

Chapter 24

"Counterstrike"

While Richard went after Raven, Slade returned to the mansion the Mercedes raced up the driveway and came to a screeching halt. Slade rushed in the front door, Wintergreen jumped to his feet he could tell something was wrong.

"Dad, Raven's been kidnapped. I need access to the weapons vault." His son said.

The two of them ran down the hallway while Slade explained what happened to his father. He had no choice but to honor his request. When they walked into the main living room Wintergreen walked over to a small gargoyle statue and pressed down on the statue's head. The eyes glowed red and the nearby wall slid up revealing a large steel door with an insignia of a flattened Globe the Red Cross symbol in the center and a golden oval sweeping over the logo at a right angle. It was the emblem of International Search and Rescue. The organization his father founded and headed many years ago. Wintergreen placed his palm on a large digital scanner. A red laser beam scanned the handprint and the titanium door split along the center, separating the top and bottom halves opening the giant door. Inside was a secret base of operations. Computer screens lined the walls in circular fashion. The lights brought the room to life as the two of them walked in.

"I forgot how big this place was." Said Slade.

On the main floor was a large circular room surrounded by computers and assorted technology a railing bordered the Ops Center there was a flight of stairs that led to the lower level. In the center of the floor was the I.S.R. logo. Wintergreen explained to his son the original mission of the organization.

"30 years ago I founded International Search and Rescue to save people the world over. We are first to respond when a rescue mission is too dangerous or too difficult by normal conventions. As you know, ISR agents are trained to perform in Extremely High Risk environments and circumstances in which regular paramedics and firefighters cannot tread. Specializing in citywide evacuations and rescue retrieval. You have to understand that ISR is a peaceful mission and doesn't resort to violence unless extremely necessary." Wintergreen explained.

"I know Dad." Slade said understandingly.

Wintergreen turned to face his son. "If you're going to save Raven then you're going to need the gear." He said.

Slade nodded his head. Wintergreen walked over to the weapons vault and began pulling out various weapons. The first thing he handed him was a collapsible rod.

"G-32-A Laser staff. Fires duel laser blast on either end, its very sturdy made of steel and can collapse for easy storage in your belt." Wintergreen said handing him the weapon.

The next thing he handed him was a handgun. "9mm handgun. Standard sidearm for ISR agents."

Wintergreen gave him an array of weapons. "If this Malchior is as strong as you say he is. Then it will take everything you have to defeat him."

Slade nods his head in agreement. "There's one more thing that I must show you." his father said.

Meanwhile back in the city. Richard was running down the alley talking to Bruce on his communicator.

"Bruce, have you found anything?"

"I've been running a city-wide scan. I haven't found a trace of them." Bruce was sitting behind the supercomputer in the Batcave as the on-screen radar sweeped all of San Antholas extending to the outskirts. Nothing was turning up on the computer.

"I'm checking on any and all harmonics and ionization trails. They may not even be in the city." Bruce said.

"What about your satellites?" Richard asked.

"Negative on that. The global tracking system isn't picking anything up either."

"Well keep looking. I'm going to track them down on foot." Richard said.

"Be careful."

"Robin, out."

Rich ran down the alleyway he took out a red device pressing the button. There was a flash of crimson light. As a red energy ring appeared at his feet and traveled up his body transforming his current attire into the Robin uniform. His long black and yellow cape flowed behind him as his domino mask materialized over his eyes. With his transformation complete he took out his grappling hook and fired it and he sailed through the air.

Meanwhile back at the high school an angry Kori Anders stormed out of the gym.

"Can't help him? We'll just see about that." she said to herself as she walked through the parking lot.

Kori ran into a pitch-black alley, as soon as she did a burst of purple light emanated from the alley. Kori was transformed into Starfire as her black cheerleading jumpsuit materialized and streams of silver bands wrapped around her body forming the armor. The last to appear was her opaque visor and silver headdress completing the costume. She flew off into the night.

Bursting out the other side of the gym was Victor Stone. He ran as fast as he could through the parking lot. He jumped over a fence into the woods. A burst of blue light could be seen through the trees. Vic linked his power rings together as his white suit vanished and his body turned to solid rock. The silver headband appeared on his forehead and armbands on his wrists. Stone jumped into the air and traveled a great distance through the air before coming down and leaping through the air again.

The only two people left in the gym were Gar and Tara.

"What do we do now Tara?" Gar asked.

"Come on, we have to get to my house." She says grabbing his hand and rush out.

Back at the Wintergreen Estate in the secret ISR Command Center, Wintergreen revealed the agency's greatest secret to his son. The two of them stood in a secret chamber.

"What is this?" Slade asked.

"In the early days of ISR. We were called to handle a hostage situation in the jungles of Cambodia. A visiting Prime Minister from another country was kidnapped by guerillas. And was held under there militarist general. In order to combat this we created Project: Deathstroke. A super soldier serum that would give its user the strength of 10 men the man we selected was able to successfully penetrate the camp he was able to rescue the Prime Minister he ended up slaughtering the entire military faction. He was driven mad and ultimately became a threat unto us. It took everything we had to destroy him. Project: Deathstroke was considered a failure. Its secrets were locked away never to see the light of day again. What you see before you is his suit." Wintergreen explained.

In a glass cylindrical chamber was a black and silver uniform with body armor, staring back at him was a black and orange mask with just one eyehole. Slade looked back at his dad with a questioning expression.

"Why are you showing me this?" he asked.

"Because it is the right thing to do." Wintergreen bowed his head. He glanced back at his son and said to him:

"The suit and serum are of two separate things. When combined your abilities can be multiplied ten-fold."

"And if I take the serum I'll never be the same physically and psychologically."

"But with your martial arts skills you wont need the serum." Wintergreen explained.

Slade bowed his head. "But I wasn't strong enough to beat him."

"I have to take that serum." He said resolutely.

"No!" Wintergreen interjected.

"I have to dad without it I don't stand a chance against him!" he said.

"Slade…"

"I'll only take a small amount of it. That should be enough to stop him and I can retain my sanity." He began to make his way toward the vile.

"Slade…" his father stretched out his arm. His son stopped and looked back at him.

"I don't want to lose you." he said.

Slade stood there he smiled softly. "Your not going to lose me Dad, I'll be fine." He said.

The hurt in his father's eyes said it all. Slade held his smile and said to him. "I love you dad."

Wintergreen closed his eyes and withdrew his arm he nodded his head as he watched his son go up to claim the serum. "I love you too." he said softly.

Slade picked up the serenge he emptied all but a small portion of it and injected it into his forearm he groaned as he injected the serum into his body. He put the needle down and after a few seconds he began to its properties taking over, circulating through his body. His muscles began to grow a bit he felt stronger. _(His muscles grow to 1 ½ times there size. But remain within reasonable limit appropriate to his age)_

Slade looked at his new physic amazed. "Oh man, look at these pipes. I bet I can bench press 250 now!"

Wintergreen couldn't help but chuckle. "Now that you've bulked up a bit that costume should fit you a little better." He said.

Slade smiled at his dad.

"Suit up." Wintergreen said.

Within minutes Slade had the basis of the black and silver jumpsuit on. He applies the steel gauntlets to his forearm. Strapped on his shin guards slipped the chest plate over his head and it locked into place. He took the bandolier (belt with bullets) and slipped over one shoulder. Hooked his utility belt on and placed his various weapons into there compartments. The retractable titanium staff, a throwing disk that expands into a Z-shaped blade, stun grenades, smoke bombs, grappling hook, shockwave bomb. He slipped a pair of handguns into holsters on either side of his belt. His dad handed him a katana with an orange and black handle. He put the sword into the sheath on his back that was attached to his bandolier. Lastly he held the orange and black mask in his hands. The one thing he noticed about it was on the black half of the mask there was a dark lens over the right eye which blended in perfectly.

"That's the cyber-scan eye. It allows you to see through walls and other things. Its an X-Ray lens." His father explained.

"Cool." Slade said examining the mask.

He split the helmet in two and placed it over his head once on. He snapped the clips on both sides of the helmet locking it securely in place. Wintergreen's eyes widened as he saw his son stand as Deathstroke.

"My god." He said awestruck.

Slade walks down the stairs breathing Darth Vader style.

"Will you knock it off? Come on, I got one more thing I want to show you." his dad said.

"Spoilsport."

They made there way downstairs where the vehicles are kept. Wintergreen pressed a keypad on the wall. A large rectangular slot had risen up out of the floor. The container split in two and sides lowered to the ground revealing a high black motorcycle with laser cannons affixed to its front wheel. (Picture a black R-Cycle with cannons)

"This is your Death Cycle. On board artillery with enough firepower to take down anything that stands in your way." Wintergreen said.

"That is so bad ass!!!" Slade said getting on the bike.

"I'm glad you like it. This bike will prove to be very useful to you." his dad said smiling.

"Thanks Dad."

"Good luck Slade. I hope that we'll see each other again."

"I'll be back. I promise." He said.

Wintergreen nodded as he stepped away from the bike. Slade started up the cycle as the gages glowed blue. He twisted the throttle the rear wheel screamed as he took off into the night. Wintergreen smiled, he knew his son would win. As Slade pulled away from the mansion numerous thoughts rushed through his head. He always knew of the ISR and yet there was so much his Father never told him. He knew it was for the best as what he was doing is for the best. He knows that there's no other way he can defeat Malchior. With this thought in mind he redlined the engine he popped a power wheelie and blazed off into the night at 100mph.

As Robin sailed through the air by way of grappling hook his tracker beeped rapidly.

"Robin, I have a lock on her position." Bruce said over his communicator.

"On my way!" he said.

Starfire soared high above the city and flew toward Raven and Malchior. Stone was beginning to head in the same direction as Slade on the Death Cycle roared down the highway in search of her. Back in the subdivision Gar and Tara were at her house Tara was upstairs changing while Gar was outside waiting.

"Hey Tara, hurry up what are you doing in there?" he asked.

Tara had changed out of her dress and was changing into a new set of clothes. Wearing a pair of yellow hot pants she quickly pulled a crimson belly shirt over her head. Her shirt had a yellow circle "T" design. As she put on her mountain boots she quietly walked over to the open window doors.

"I'm sorry Gar." She said pulling her dark red mask over her face Her long golden hair flowing over it. Terra stepped out the window a large rock caught her and she flew off into the night. Her boyfriend never knowing she left.

"_I'll make it up to you someday. I promise." _Thought she hated doing this to him. She had no other choice thinking he wouldn't accept her if he knew she had superpowers.

Within minutes Slade was on the other side of the city in search of Raven an on-board tracking system leading the way. The tracker was beeping rapidly as it locked in on there position. It was just a few miles away.

"_Hang on Raven." _he thought to himself as he raced down the deserted highway.

In the skies flew Starfire and Robin. She carried the Teen Wonder by the hand as they flew towards the scene. And a few miles east of them Terra flew on her rock.

By this time Malchior had arrived at the foot of the haunted mansion with Raven in tow. The girl offered no resistance as she was completely under his command.

"I've got somebody that's just dying to meet you Raven." he said.

Out of nowhere a laser beam hit him square in the chest and sent him flying he crashed into the wooden stair not knowing what hit him. Looking up he saw a black motorcycle barreling towards him at full throttle.

"Fire!" Slade yelled.

A series of laser blasts shot from the cannons and hit their mark. The front porch of the mansion went up in a ball of fire. Malchior emerged from the flames unscathed walking towards him with his shield in hand.

"No way." Slade said.

"It will take a lot more than that to get rid of me." Malchior said.

"All right then if that's the way you want it. Rockets away!" Slade yelled as multiple missiles were fired from the sides of the bike.

The sidewinder missiles streak and whistle through the air. Malchior jumps 10-20 feet in the air avoiding them as they hit the ground. A large fiery explosion rocked surrounding area. Malchior drew his sword from his shield. And hurled an energy attack from his blade at him. Deathstroke takes off as the energy blade hit the ground and exploded behind him. Malchior lands on the ground and repeats the attack. With a swing of his blade a streak of red energy shoots out headed towards Deathstroke. The masked teen ducks as the energy blade went over his head and exploding not too far from him. Deathstroke hits the throttle. His back tire spins in the dirt as he turns and charges Malchior on his motorcycle. The crimson knight is ready for him with his sword and shield deployed. Holding his sword above his head he activates another energy strike and brings his sword down with a vertical strike that's sure to slice the bike and rider in two. Deathstroke dodges it at the last minute as the blade goes past and slices a tree down the middle. Slade evades to the side firing his lasers at him, Malchior blocks the attacks with his shield.

"Come on is that the best you got?" Malchior demanded.

The bike slid sideways digging into the dirt, as Deathstroke got ready for another attack.

"Fight me like a man!"

He yelled sending a powerful energy blast through his saber directly at him. The resulting explosion knocks him off his bike as Deathstroke tumbles across the ground. His Death Cycle falls harmless to the wayside. Down on one knee Deathstroke drew his staff from his utility belt. He charged the knight and jumped high in the air with his staff drawn above his head he came down on the knight as his staff clashed with Malchior's sword. He threw in multiple strikes against his weapon. Deathstroke on the offensive as he lashed out against the knight, Malchior held his ground while they waged war on each other. Malchior struck back with his blade to which Deathstroke easily blocked and countered. He was starting to fall back as Malchior went on the offensive throwing in several vicious strikes and jabs with his saber. To which Deathstroke blocked the attacks successfully. Slade spun his staff and jabbed him in the stomach with the end of his weapon. Malchior held his sword above his head and brought it down on top of him. He blocked with his arm as his armor protected not only his wrist but his shoulder as well. Malchior kicked him in the stomach and attempted to cut him down with his blade. Deathstroke countered with his staff holding it horizontal over his chest with both hands. The two of them struggled to overpower one another. Malchior dishonorably struck him with his shield and attempted to kill him off with a swipe of his blade. But Deathstroke jumped back in time. Malchior charged him drawing his sword horizontal over his shoulder and swings and then tries stabbing him in the gut only to be blocked again by his staff. Deathstroke grabs the end of the sword with his hand and spins around with his back towards him in trying to disarm the knight. Malchior struggles against him trying to free his blade from his adversary's clutches. Slade drops his staff, grabs Malchior by the back of the neck and successfully throws him over his shoulder. The knight tumbles through the air to the ground his sword knocked out of his hand as the scarlet warrior fell to the ground.

Deathstroke held the knight's sword pointed right between his eyes. Malchior fired a blast of energy knocking the masked teen off balance. Malchior immediately sprung to his feet and Malchior did a spinning kick knocking Deathstroke to the ground, recapturing his sword. All of this took place as Raven looked on in shock.

"End of the line." Malchior said.

The knight cast aside his shield and held his sword above his head set ablaze in red demonic energy ready to deliver the final blow. Raven's eyes glowed white as she brought her hands together and fired a black energy ball at his back exploding on impact. The knight was knocked forward by the blast as he looked back a green laser beam came out of the sky nailing him in the chest and sends him flying. Robin and Starfire descend from the sky. She launched Robin throwing several explosion disks that go off around Malchior. Robin comes down out of the smoke cloud with his staff drawn. Malchior dodges the attack Robin lands with a loud thud as his staff struck the earth in an explosion of smoke and dust. Malchior swings his blade issuing out an energy attack. Starfire dodges the attack with ease and punches him in the face. Robin emerges with his staff. The Boy Wonder spins around and knocks him to the ground with his staff. Malchior's eyes glow red as he fired a large energy blast from his hand taking out Robin and Starfire. Stone charges in from out of nowhere and drives his fist into Malchior's face and sends him soaring through the air. The knight crashed violently to the ground.

Deathstroke looked up amazed. "What? Who are you guys?" he asked.

"We should ask you the same." Robin said helping him up.

"Robin? But…I thought you were an urban legend." Deathstroke said.

"It doesn't get anymore real than this." Robin said.

"Who are the other guys?" Deathstroke asked.

"That's Starfire up there." Robin said pointing up at her in the air.

Deathstroke looked up at her, she's so beautiful. He heard a loud bang as Malchior threw Stone back. Immediately the two were drawn back into battle. Starfire flew in hurling her Starbolts at him Malchior blocked them with his shield. Robin and Deathstroke charged him drawing their sabers. Robin combined two birdarangs as they created his sword. Deathstroke drew his sword from his back. Malchior was ready for them.

"Come on!" he yelled.

Their weapons clashed, Robin was the first one to strike as Malchior easily blocked his attack. Deathstroke then attacked as the knight blocked his attack as well. The two heroes attack they him simultaneously. Malchior's quick reflexes and swordsmanship made him a formidable opponent despite being outnumbered two to one. They continued forcing him back with there relentless attack. Malchior blocked Robin's attacks with his shield while he fought Deathstroke sword vs. sword. It seemed as though they were winning. The crisp clanging of swords echoed through the night air. Robin spun and kicked Malchior's shield forcing him back even more. Deathstroke charged him and brought down his blade with a mighty swing. Malchior blocks it with his sword. Robin charged him; Malchior raised his shield, but Robin fakes and struck him in the side with his blade sparks flew off of the knight's armor. Robin swings his sword sideways across Malchior's abdomen again with no effect on him. Deathstroke brings his sword down diagonally across the knight's shoulder and makes contact. Malchior grunted in pain as he hit Robin with his shield knocking him to the ground and with a mighty sideswipe to the stomach sends Deathstroke down with him. Starfire power dives and hits him in the chest with both fists and sends him flying. Flat on his back, Starfire sent a supercharged Starbolt down on him with a tremendous explosion. The knight's dark form could be seen walking thought the fire, his eyes piercing out through the smoke and the blaze.

"That is impossible." She said.

"Foolish girl, I cannot die!" he said.

"We'll just see about that." Said Deathstroke he and Robin were back on there feet with their sabers drawn.

"No, I assure you. This is the end!" Malchior said.

The dark knight held out his saber glowing blood red. The energy from the blade manifested into fire and from the base of the handle swirling energy began to culminate into the shape of a dragon's head. The beast roared as it swirled around the blade reaching the top of the saber. The monster grew as more and more energy poured into it. It was Malchior's finishing move. He held the sword high above his head the enormous dragon swirling around his saber. The heroes stood frozen in there tracks.

"This is my most powerful attack. Few have ever seen its power. And now, gaze upon your destruction Rage of the Dragon!!!" Malchior yelled.

With a swing of his blade he releases his power bringing his crushing attack down upon them. The dragon roars as it barrels towards them ripping up giant chunks of earth, destroying everything in its path. The heroes are frozen in fear as the massive creature of destruction flies towards them. Arms go flying up in futile defense as they ready for the inevitable. Screams of terror can be heard from the superheroes as there ultimate demise approached. Just when all seemed lost a massive wall of Earth had risen from the ground saving them. The dragon crashed headlong into the wall in a spectacular explosion that rocked for miles.

"What was that?" Malchior exclaimed.

In the massive cloud of smoke Robin, Deathstroke, Starfire and Stone were all huddled together covered in mounds of dirt not knowing if they were dead or alive. After a few moments of stillness, Robin began to move around. He got to his hands and knees covered in sand and dirt. Starfire began to move around as well as did Deathstroke and Stone.

"What was that?" Robin asked.

He looked up and saw the silhouette of a girl floating on a rock. Her long hair flowing in the sand meshed wind. The girl floated there with her arms spread out.

"Did she save us?" he asked himself.

"Robin, what was that?"

"I don't know Starfire."

"I'm glad to hear that you're all ok." Said the girl.

"Who are you?" he asked. Her back was towards them, her image still shielded by the flowing sand and debris.

"My name is Terra. I've come to help." She said.

"Sure picked a heck of a time." Said Stone.

The dust settled down and Terra's form was finally revealed to them. A young girl with long flowing golden hair wearing a crimson long sleeved belly shirt with a gold T inside a circle she wore a red ski mask with the top and bottom portions removed. And gold short shorts.

"Impossible. No one can survive my attack." Malchior exclaimed.

"First time for everything sugar." Terra said.

Malchior growled as his sword started to glow again.

"I don't think so." Terra said.

Her hands glowed yellow she yelled as she shot a large rock knocking the sword from his hand. The gang all charges him at once. Robin and Deathstroke lead the attack jumping high in the air with there weapons draw above there heads. Malchior blocks them with his shield. Stone and Starfire charge him and punch him in the chest knocking him back. Deathstroke spins and kicks him across the face. Robin punches him. The evil knight rolled across the ground before picking up his sword. Starfire flew in with a punch which Malchior managed to block with his shield, but the more she pushed the more she dented his shield. Malchior draws back his sword and swings but she catches it with her bare hand.

"Let go!" He yelled as he struggled against her. His eyes glowed red as he threw Starfire across the ground.

"He's weakening, we have to finish him off!" Deathstroke yelled as he ran up to attack.

"Let's finish this!" yelled Stone.

"Everyone together!" yelled Robin.

Robin was the first to begin the final strike. The Boy Wonder jumps in the air hurling explosion disks at the knight. The pods burst around him as Robin came down with his sword Malchior blocks with his own.

"You don't have what it takes to beat me!" the knight yelled.

"We'll see about that!" says Robin. His sword glows green and he strikes Malchior across the chest.

"Ahhhhh!"

The knight recoiled after being struck. Out of the corner of his eye Robin sees Starfire and Terra coming. He ducks out of the way as Starfire flew in and blasted him with a wave of energy from point blank range.

BLAM!

Terra's eyes and hands glowed yellow as she charged in. with a thrust of her hands a gigantic pillar of jagged rocks shot from out of the ground. Malchior could only watch as it came towards him. He cried out in excruciating pain as it tore the left side of his body. The razor sharp rocks ripping through his arm and leg. The knight fell out of the sky as Stone rushed towards him. The knight spun around and saw the Rock golem as he fell toward the earth. His eyes glowed red as he conjured a black energy shield. Stone busted through the shield with his fist and sent the knight headed towards Deathstroke. The masked man stood waiting for him.

"Time to finish this." Deathstroke said to himself drawing his sword.

The knight flew helplessly towards him. Deathstroke turned his sword crossways as the knight flew past him. The sword dug into his side. Malchior's eyes widened in unimaginable pain as it all happened in slow motion. He landed on his back 2 feet from where Deathstroke was. The knight gagged as he held his side. As the knight rolled over to his chest and struggled to get up, black blood poured from his side. The defeated knight gasped for air as he looked up at Deathstroke.

"You are formidable opponents…. but you haven't seen the last of me." Malchior collapsed face down then disappeared under the shadows.

Deathstroke lifted the front of his mask, his back facing the others. He looked down at his blood soaked saber stunned. How could he survive that? 200 feet away stood the rest of the young superheroes they studied Deathstroke.

"Who is that guy?" Robin asked.

Deathstroke removed his helmet. The teens are surprised to see that he has silver hair. When he finally turns around they see who it is.

"Slade?" said Robin.

_Author's Note: Oh, is Malchior gone for good? And how will the guys react to this newest revelation? Find out in the next chapter of X High School! _

_Review!!_


	25. Rorek

_Author's Note: All right here we are at Chapter 25 at last. I think you guys are really going to like this chapter. And to answer some of my reviews Raven will play a much larger part in this one. I really didnt mean to leave her hanging in the last few chapters that's just how it turned out. Here's chapter 25 of X High School. _

Chapter 25

"Rorek"

"Slade?" Robin said after Deathstroke removed his mask.

"How do you know my name?" Slade asked.

Robin stood there for a moment contemplating what he should do. The cat's already out of the bag he just said his best friend's name. Given no other choice, he decided to power down. He pressed the button on his device. He was blanketed in a flash of red light and revealed his true identity.

"RICHARD?!" everyone yelled in shock.

The Teen Wonder looked up in surprise. How could they know his name?

"Who are you guys?" Richard asked.

Starfire, Terra and Stone all powered down in bursts of purple, yellow and blue and revealed themselves to the others. The six teens all stood around in shock.

"Oh my god how…how can this be?" Richard asked.

"Kori? Vic? Tara?" said Slade.

"Rich? Slade?" said Vic.

"I'm going to need to sit down." said Tara.

"How…how can you guys be superheroes?" asked Rich.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." the three said in unison.

Kori walked up to Richard. "How come you didn't tell me?" she said sounding hurt.

"I…I couldn't. I mean, I didn't know you were…"

Kori struck him in the back of the head.

"Oww! What did you do that for?!" he yelled incredulously

"For telling me I couldn't come with you!" she yelled.

"So that's my fault?" he yelled back.

"Yes it is!"

"What the hell? Five minutes ago I didn't even know you had superpowers!" he yelled.

"You are so insensitive!" she yelled back.

"Enough!" yelled Slade.

"I was only doing that to protect you!" Rich yelled.

"What?" she said.

"You think I like keeping secrets from you? I didn't want you to come with me because I didn't want you getting hurt. You saw how powerful Malchior was. If anything happened to you, I'd never forgive myself. That's why I had to keep everyone in the dark. Its part of the credo I was given." Richard said.

Kori stood there in utter surprise, as did Vic and Tara. Richard was never the type to spill his guts and so this was especially rare.

"While you guys sort this out I'm going to check on Raven." Slade said walking past them.

As the group carried on in there conversation Slade walked over to Raven who was sitting at the foot of a tree.

"Rae? Raven?" he said.

She opened her eyes to see him standing before her in his Deathstroke uniform.

"Slade!" she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Thank God. I never thought I'd see you again." She said.

"Nothing would keep me from you Raven." He said hugging her back. A burst of orange light encompassed them as he changed back to his civilian form.

"Where did you get that?" she asked him.

Slade chuckled "It's a long story. Come on; let's get you back to the others."

"Okay." She said.

Slade scooped her up in his arms and carried her back. Raven buried her head in his chest as he carried her. For the first time since the attack she felt safe and secure. She knew there wasn't a force on Earth that would stop him. Slade walked up to the others with Raven in his arms as the gang heralded congratulations to the young teen hero.

"All right, way to go Slade!" said Richard.

"We couldn't have done it without you." Said Vic.

"Great job Slade!" said Tara.

In the depths below them an outraged Ryan Trigon blasted energy from his staff hitting the ceiling above them.

"How could you lose to them?!" he demanded.

"They overpowered me, my lord." Malchior tired to explain.

Ryan growled as his eyes and crystal staff glowed red as he contemplated destroying his servant. The wounded knight cowered before him. For he knew that nothing could save him from his master's wrath, it was then his brother Rorek interceded.

"Please master, spare his life. He is not to blame." The silver knight said.

"Rorek step aside lest you share his fate." Master Ryan said.

But he didn't move a very bold and audacious decision to defy the Master of Darkness.

"Let me capture them sire." Rorek insisted.

Ryan withdrew his staff. "Fine, go up there and capture Raven for me." He said.

"Yes Master." Rorek said as he transported through the shadows.

Ryan looked down at Malchior. The knight had risen to his feet, holding his side. The Dark Lord walked past him without another word.

Back on the surface, the teens stood around celebrating. They felt the ground shake. Not too far from them the earth ripped open. A ghastly red glow could be seen from within the crater as Rorek and his foot soldiers had risen from the pit. The six teens were on guard as the silver knight appeared before them. Slade put Raven down and went to the front with the others. Rorek drew his sword from the sheath on his back and pointed his blade at them.

"Not another one." said Richard.

"So who are you?" Slade asked.

"I am Rorek, the Wizard Knight. I have come for the girl and for revenge on my brother." He said.

"You guys ready for Round 2?" said Rich.

"Oh yeah!" Said Tara.

"Let's show him what we're made of." Said Vic.

"Let's do this!" said Slade.

A red energy ring appeared around Rich's feet traveling up his body as he changed back into Robin. His trademark mask appears over his eyes once more, transforming him back into the Teen Wonder.

A purple light emanated from Kori's body as her black cheerleader's outfit appeared and silver bands wrapped around her arms, legs and torso forming her armor followed by her mask changing her back to Starfire.

Victor punched his energy rings together an explosion of blue light surrounds him. Streaks of light race up his arms, turning his muscles into granite. The same was happening at the soles of his feet racing up his legs to his torso the beams meet at the shoulders and cover his head. Turning him back to Stone.

A burst of yellow light flares as chunks of earth fly up around Tara. The yellow light encompasses her form and her red shirt and yellow shorts appear. Her signature mask wraps around her head as she changes into Terra.

An orange burst of light surrounds Slade. His black and silver jumpsuit appeared and his armor plating fused to the suit. A white vertical line appeared in the center of Slade's face as it expanded forming the two sides of his mask. The beam wrapped around his head completing the mask. A streak of light flashes over the helmet and right lens in its reflection.

And in a black flash of energy, a navy blue cloak wraps around Raven's shoulders. A hood rises up covering Raven's face.

The six teens stood in sequence ready to throw down. Rorek unimpressed by this gave the order.

"Goblins attack!" he cried out.

A troop of grotesque green skinned monsters stood ready. With long fangs, big yellow eyes and pointed ears. Most of them were balding with long red tangled hair. All of them wore black tattered pants and cloaks and had rippling muscles. Each of them carried with them a scythe. The monsters screeched as they charged the young heroes.

The young superheroes bravely charge into battle. Robin is the first to attack jumping high in the air drawing his staff. He comes down upon the goblins landing in the midst of them. They swing their scythes; he blocks them with his staff and manages to knock several of them to the ground with a spin of his weapon. He jabs one in the stomach with the end of his staff and whacks another one in the face with a swing of his stick.

Deathstroke goes charging in headfirst. He double clotheslines two of them with his arms and carries them a distance before they fall to the ground. Slade spins and kicks a third one in the face. The goblin spun through the air and landed hard. As Deathstroke spun around he drew his gun and fired point blank at another one. Direct hit the goblin screeched as it fell to the ground. The rest of the goblins attacked him as he drew his other handgun and began firing at them.

Starfire flew into a swarm of goblins with scythes swinging. She dodged most of them with ease. As one dug into her arm guard, the armor held without so much as a scratch Starfire's hand lit up and blasted it with a starbolt.

Terra had a group of goblins charging her. The geomancer's hands glowed yellow as she shot large rocks at the goblins knocking them out. Several of the goblins leapt over the rocks and came down on her. Terra's eyes glowed yellow as she sent a blast of sand and dust at them knocking them out of the sky. She summoned up a tidal wave of sand and swept them away. As one jumped up ready to strike her from behind with his scythe a large rock flew from the left side and took him out. Terra looked over and saw Stone had thrown the large rock.

"Thanks Vic!" she said.

Stone was faced with his own army of darkness. Stone yelled as he charged the goblins drawing back his fist and buried it in the face of one of his victims. More attacked him. They dig their scythes into his rock hard body but to no avail as he delivered them servings of pain. With each punch he sends flying. They gang up on him and try to overpower him. At one point they were overwhelming him. There were too many for him to fight. Holding him down, there blades chipping away at his bedrock body. With one mighty burst he threw them all off. With a burst of rage he brought his hands together in a sideways sledgehammer. With a mighty swing he sent several of them flying through he air. He continued to power his way through with a series of powerful punches. He head butts one of them and with a spinning kick send three of them flying all at once.

A bunch of Goblins charged Raven with their scythes raised ready to strike. But Raven wasn't about to let them come close. The monsters swung their scythe all at once. Raven's eyes glowed white and a black force field came out of the ground and shielded her shattering their weapons on impact. She expanded the force field and sent them flying. More sprang up as they rushed into attack her. Raven fired energy blasts from her hands taking them down one by one. One goblin got her from behind and put its scythe around her neck. Raven froze. She was trapped.

"Raven!" Slade yelled. A multitude of goblins prevented him from reaching her.

Raven's eyes glowed white as a field of energy surrounded her breaking the scythe the goblin was shocked by the young girl's power. She reached behind grabbing the goblin and throwing him over her shoulders and landed hard on his back. Deathstroke threw the two goblins that were holding him down. A third one came up Deathstroke punched him in the face and knocked him to the ground. Raven brought her hands together and fired an energy blast at the fallen goblin and sends it sliding across the ground into the base of a tree.

The gang regrouped in the center amazed by each other's skill and congratulating each other.

"Good job guys!" said Robin.

Rorek stepped forth unimpressed.

"It seems as though you have plenty of fight left in you." he said.

The silver knight held his sword to the side. His blade gave off a white-silver flame. It was then they realized that it was similar to Malchior's Dragon attack, the one that nearly destroyed them earlier. Rorek held the blade above his head as the blazing energy flowed through the saber and the fire grew in size.

"But let's see how you deal against this!" he yelled getting ready to attack.

"Hey mop top!" came a voice.

Rorek turned around to see a giant fist flying towards him. The force of the punch was so great that it knocked across the ground. The sword fell harmlessly to the ground. Laying facedown on the ground the knight struggled to get up. With his face still in the dirt, he got up to his knees, intense pain rushing through the left side of his face. Having felt like a train hit him.

"What the hell was that?" Rorek gritted painfully through his teeth.

"Whoa!" said Robin.

Before the Titans stood a green skinned human with hair and eyes of the same color. Wearing a black long sleeved shirt, purple vest and badge shorts with black and purple hiking boots the boy stood there with arms crossed in heroic pose.

"Need some help?" he asked.

"Who are you suppose to be?" asked Stone.

"The name's Beast Boy." He introduced.

The emerald skinned teen noticed Rorek was starting to get up he turned to the others.

"You guys ready to throw down?"

"Yeah!" they cried.

"You jerk your going to pay for that!!!" Rorek growled.

"Dude, this party is just getting started!" said Beast Boy.

Rorek picked up his sword. "Then let's dance."

"Everyone ready?" said Robin.

"Ready!" said Starfire, Raven and the others.

Rorek charged Robin and the others with his sword held high.

"Attack!" yelled Deathstroke.

Rorek first attack Robin, the Boy Wonder drew his own blade and there weapons clashed. Starfire flew in and hurled a starbolt at his chest. Robin charged again him slashing at him with his blade. Rorek blocked his attacks as the knight held his own and pushed off Robin. Stone came in with fists flying, Rorek dodged them, spins in the air and kicks Stone in the arm knocking him off balance a bit. Starfire and Raven flew into attack; Rorek slams his sword to the ground and sends out a burst of energy knocking them back. Beast Boy comes charging in and takes a few swings at him. He goes for a flying kick. Rorek grabs him by the leg and throws him. Robin jumped over Beast Boy as he charged him. Rorek knocks the sword out of Robin's hand and sidekicks him in the stomach.

Stone comes in with a punch, Rorek blocks his punch with his sword and lodged itself between the second and third knuckle of his hand. He held off the golem with his blade. Beast Boy re-enters the fray as a tiger and pounces on Rorek with his claws. The knight is knocked to the ground him dislodging the sword from Stone's fist. When Beast Boy is clear, Stone comes down on him and drives his fist into his face putting him through the ground. An explosion of dust and debris billows around them.

Stone smiled to himself thinking he got him when he hears the knight call out.

"Mekrenom Hezberek Mortix!"

A powerful blast of white energy sends Vic soaring through the air and crash-landed to the ground in a crater of his own. The knight wizard had risen from the ground surrounded by a field of white energy. They couldn't believe his power; nobody had ever sent Stone flying through the air like that before. The remaining 6 heroes regrouped ready to take on this more powerful Rorek. As he walked toward them his left hand glowed and a burst of white light materialized a silver badge shaped shield similar to Malchior's with a black griffin adorning it.

"White Magic." Raven said. Her eyes narrowed in anger.

"How can you use White Magic for evil?" she demanded.

Rorek stopped short and them and gave a simple reply.

"I do what I must."

"What? Raven how do you know about this kind of stuff?" Robin asked her.

"Because its part of my power." She said.

"Raven?" Beast Boy said.

"_This couldn't be the Raven I know could it? There's just no way it could be her." _he thought to himself.

He didn't have time to answer as the silver knight drew closer to them.

"Time to finish you." the wizard said.

"Let's take him!" Robin said.

Raven stretched out her arm in front of the others.

"Let me handle this. I owe you guys." She said.

"All right, be careful." Robin said.

"Don't worry I can handle myself." She said confidently.

Raven stepped forward to face Rorek. The knight looked back at her unconvinced.

"You ready to throw down?" she asked.

"As if you can." Said Rorek.

"You have no idea what I'm capable of." She said as they stared each other down ready to fight.

"Well bring it on." Rorek said in a deep confident voice

Raven's hands glowed black as Rorek's glowed white. The two of them stared each other down there eyes narrowed into slits.

"Azarath Metrion…"

"Mecrenom Hezberek…"

"Zinthos!!!"

"Mortix!!!"

The two of them fired powerful energy blasts at each other. The black and white energy beams met deadlocked in the center. As the two mystics try to overpower each other they struggled against one another's power. The two of them grunted trying to hold there ground.

"You're stronger than I thought!" Rorek grunted.

"I'm just getting warmed up." She said.

She strained as she forced more energy through her hands, forcing his own power right back at him. Rorek vanished into the shadows before the blast could hit. A gigantic explosion rocked the area. Raven looked around for him; he appears out of the shadows on her right and fired an energy blast at her. She blocked it but was knocked to the ground by the attack. Rorek continued pummeling her with energy attacks. Raven rolled across the ground and ran straight for him dodging the attacks as best she could. She conjured a shield and used it to defend her from his attacks as she got closer to him. Rorek continued blasting at her. Finally when she was within range she swung a fist full of black energy at his face he reeled back Raven spun and kicked him in the chest knocking him back several steps. Raven spun through the air and kicked him again in the cheek. When she came around again she fired another energy blast at him forcing him to the ground. Rorek flipped over backwards to his feet and fired an energy blast at her. She dodged the attack and flew high in the air. He continued firing energy blasts at her. She came back around changing into a large black bird spirit and attacked him. Rorek jumped back in surprise and kept firing hitting it several times in the chest but it was no use. The bird spirit flew right threw him. Rorek cried out in extreme pain as he was consumed in an explosion. The bird spirit emerged from the fire as it screeched. Raven resumed her human form and landed on solid earth.

"All right Raven!" yelled Robin.

"Way to go!" Said Stone.

"That was incredible." Said Terra.

"I knew you could do it!" said Death stroke.

"Truly awesome!" said Beast Boy.

"Magnificent display of power!" cried Starfire.

"…thanks guys but really it was nothing." Raven tried to explain.

There celebration was cut short as Rorek staggered out of the flames clearly weakened by her attack. The heroes spun around in shock to see that he was still alive.

"That was truly impressive. The master was right about you Raven as he always was." Rorek said.

Robin and the others assume a defensive stance around Raven.

"And who is your Master?" Robin asked.

"Lord Ryan is rising soon." Rorek said.

Raven's eyes widened in shock "No…that cant be." She said softly.

"What?" Robin said turning back to Raven then turned around to face the silver knight.

"Who is Ryan?" Robin demanded.

"You'll be meeting him soon enough." Rorek said.

The 7 heroes stood around in shock. With this being said Rorek vanished before there eyes. Robin and the others looked back at Raven as the young girl stood silent.

_Author's Note: Well did I tell you Raven would have a much larger part? Let me know what you think. _

_Review:D_


	26. Revelations

_Author's Note: Ok guys, I'm back with another update. This one's going to be a lot shorter than previous chapters but I do promise its an important one. As the details of Ryan's origin are revealed as well as the Titans next mission. I apologise for the crap-di-tude of this chapter. I really wish it was longer. But I need to do this so I can get onto the next chapter. Once again, I'm sorry if it sucks. But I hope that you guys will enjoy it. Here's chapter 26 of X High School. Revelations. _

Chapter 26

"Revelations"

_Previously on X High School: After defeating Malchior the Titans were challenged to another fight by his younger brother Rorek. The Titans fought bravely against him and his goblins but in the end it was Raven that defeated him. The knight survived much to there surprise. Before he vanished he left them with one chilling piece of information. That Ryan Trigon would be rising soon. _

The seven teens powered down to there civilian forms after Rorek had left.

"Guys?" they heard.

The gang turned around to see Gar Logan standing in front of them with a look of surprise and confusion on his face. There eyes all widened when they saw him.

"Gar?" said Richard.

"….you guys are superheroes?" Gar said sounding as surprised as they were.

Back in the depths Ryan lashed out against his operatives. Twin beams of red electric energy suspended the two knights in midair electrocuting them. They groaned in agonizing pain as Ryan gritted his teeth furious at them for having failed him again. He released them and let them drop to the ground crippled with pain. Ryan was beyond angry. Around the corner Red Hood watched the entire deal. Leaning against a cavernous wall his arms and legs crossed who seemed to be enjoying the sight.

Back on the surface the Titans heard an ungodly sound emitting from the vast crater that Rorek and his goons had ascended from. It was growing louder by the minute.

"Let's get out of here!" said Richard.

As he and the others quickly deserted the grounds.

Slade and Raven ran over to the Death Cycle and took off, while Kori carried Richard and Tara flew off with Gar and Vic on there own slabs of rock. They got as far away from the place as possible never looking back. A few miles down the road Slade radioed his dad while traveling.

"Dad come in."

"Did you get Raven?" his dad asked on the other end.

"Yeah Dad we got her. Mission completed." He said.

A few hours later the teens were at Raven's house, the teens sat around the kitchen table with Principle Roth sitting at the head of the table as they retold the events of the evening.

"I didn't think he would return." She said.

"Miss Roth who _is_ Ryan?" Richard asked.

There principle sighed deeply; her fingers laced together resting against her chin. As she looked up at them she began to tell the story.

"Ryan Trigon is a powerful demon lord from another dimension. Many years ago his father who was also a demon came to Earth. He had married a young woman and sired two children a girl and a boy. After which he abandoned the woman when she had conceived. He revealed his true form to her in telling her that she had cursed the Earth with his spawn with this done the demon left our dimension having sewn the seeds of destruction. Impregnated with evil and overcome with grief the young woman had attempted suicide. But she was saved by an extra-dimensional order and was taken to a world called Azarath. Eventually the young woman gave birth to a boy and then hours later to a girl." Arella stated.

Raven briefly looked away. Slade seemed to notice. Arella continued.

"Over the years the children grew. And overtime the two had developed powers. The monks taught the children to control there powers. But in the 10th year all of that changed. The son had discovered his malevolent side and used his powers for practical jokes. All though innocent and childish at first his father's spirit had grown to corrupt the boy little by little. While the girl maintained and used her powers for good the boy mischievous in nature continued to use his for bad. Then one day, there father returned. Under blood red skies the demon lord attacked Azarath. Laying waste to the city he kidnapped the boy, the mother tried to stop him. She was knocked aside by a power blast from the demon. In order to keep him from capturing the girl the mother had sent her to Earth beyond the demon's reach. Another order from within the dimension battled the great demon and destroyed him all before the boy's eyes. Having been corrupted with evil enraged by the loss of his father and swore revenge on those that killed him. With heightened powers he aged himself to a young adult and attacked the order and spread his campaign to worlds beyond. He had nearly succeeded in defeating the order. The boy broke out of the dimension and made his way to Earth. In the last battle the ancient order stripped him of his powers and locked him away in a grave on the other side of Pandora's Gate so that his evil would never again threaten the Earth." Arella concluded.

Six of the teens sat around the table awestruck.

"How do you know all of this?" Richard asked.

Arella bowed her head. "I know because….he is my son."

Everyone in the room was in shock. It was then Richard decided to speak up.

"If he's Raven's brother, what does he want with her?"

"Raven is the key to opening Pandora's Gateway." Arella stated.

"What is Pandora's Gateway?" asked Slade.

"Pandora's Gateway is a barrier between Hell and Earth. Much like the Gates of Hell it keeps the darkest evil from entering our realm. Ryan is imprisoned in a pocket dimension beyond Pandora's Gate that remains here on Earth." Arella said.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Vic.

"The tomb Ryan was put in is a pocket dimension and is sealed by Pandora's Gate." She simplified.

"So then how are his lackeys able to get through?" Richard asked.

"His servants are resurrected humans and because of there humanity can pass through the gate with ease. Ryan is a full fledged demon and cannot pass through the gate." She said.

"So he needs Raven to open it for him." Richard said.

"I'm afraid so." There principle said.

A few minutes later Gar and Tara were by themselves in the living room while the others were still in the kitchen talking with Arella. The two of them sat on the plump white couch staring down at the floor.

"So how long were you going to wait to tell me?" he said.

"I'm sorry Gar." Tara said remorsefully.

"I was afraid you wouldn't except me if you knew." She said.

"I have green skin and you're worried I wouldn't accept you?" he asked.

Tara couldn't help but smile.

"Still I feel bad for ditching you like that." She said.

Gar touched her chin with his finger.

"That's all right Tara. I probably would have done the same thing if I was you." He said.

A smile graced the corner of his mouth with a fang jutting out from his bottom lip. Tara smiled back at him as she leaned into him for a kiss.

"You know you're kind of cute in green." She said.

"Maybe I should stay green more often." He said. Tara giggled and leaned him and kissed him again.

"And your pretty sexy in that mask." He added.

Tara smiled and blushed as Gar leaned into her and kissed her back. Terra made a muffled squeak as she fell back on the couch arm with Gar on top of her and continued kissing her. Slipping her the tongue and she answers back with hers. He kissed her once on the neck. She wrapped her arms around him as his hands went down her sides and started to go up her shirt. When they heard the distinct sound of somebody clearing there throat. The two of them looked up to see the others in the room. Gar immediately jumped off of Tara as they scrambled to the upright position.

"Would you guys get a room?" Raven yelled with her arms crossed over her chest.

"All right we'll go to your room." Gar said taking Tara by the hand.

"NO!" Raven barked at them.

"Will you guys grow up?" Arella said annoyed.

"Sorry Miss R." Gar said rubbing the back of his neck.

"So what are we going to do about Ryan?" Richard asked.

"We'll keep fighting off his minions, so that he never gets his hands on Raven." Said Vic.

"You can't hold him off forever." Arella said.

"Doesn't mean, we're not going to try." Said Slade.

"We'll fight his forces to the very end." Said Kori.

"To protect the Earth from his Evil." Said Raven.

"And to make sure he is never freed." Said Tara.

"For the safety and security of mankind." Said Gar.

"From this day on we will devote our lives to fighting evil." Said Richard.

"No matter what the cost." Said Tara.

"We stand together." Said Kori.

"Nobody will ever be able to take us down." Said Vic.

The seven teens stood around in a circle. Richard reached out his hand. Then Kori placed hers on top of his. Vic put his hand on top of hers then Gar, Tara, Raven and finally Slade.

"From this day on we are…the Teen Titans." Said Richard.

_Author's Note: So there you are, Ryan is really Raven's evil brother. Originally I intended on him being a lot older than Raven. Like 21 at the most. Again I apolgise if this didnt meet up to your expectations. But it does reveal alot about the character and the role the Titans will play in upcoming chapters. I really hope you guys did enjoy this. And if you can send some positive feedback all right XHS Fans? _

_Review! _


	27. Broken Alliance

_Author's Note: All right here we are with the 27th chapter of the X High School saga. As we saw in the last chapter Ryan is really Raven's brother. I'm sure you guys are going to get a kick out of this next chapter. Enjoy everyone._

**Chapter 27**

"**Broken Alliance" **

A month after the attacks things had gotten back to normal at X High School. Baseball season had started up and the team was out on the field practicing. On the mound stood Richard Grayson the team's lead pitcher. The uniforms consisted of a light blue jersey with TITANS across the front in orange and the number 17 on the back of his jersey also in orange, white pants, blue socks and a blue baseball cap with an orange "X" and button of the same color on top of the hat. As he threw to his catcher and team captain Slade Wilson. Wearing his orange catcher's gear and a number 34 on his back.

"Come on Rich throw the heat!" yelled Slade.

Richard went into his windup and threw as hard as he could result in a loud clap when it hit Slade's glove.

"Yeeeow!" Slade winced but tried to keep it down.

"That's more like it!" he said in a pained high-pitched voice.

"Ha ha. I don't call it the Rocket ball for nothing." Rich said.

"Thanks for reminding Me. All right, what else you got?" his buddy said as he threw back the ball.

"Just you watch." Said Rich.

All of the players were at there positions on the field all except for one. Gar Logan was serving detention for calling Dr. Light a Grammar Nazi in class. Dr. Light sat at his desk grading papers. Gar sat at a desk in the center of the room as the clock ticked by. From the window he could see his team practicing. It was then Dr. Light called him to the front.

"Gar would you come here please?"

Gar shoved his chair back and slowly walked over to his desk. He stood at his teacher's side slumped over with his hands shoved in his pockets. Dr. Light had finished grading his papers and turned to face Gar.

"Gar this is the third time this month I've had to give you detention." He started.

"Last week you called me a douchebag in front of the class. And the week before that wrote 'you suck' across the blackboard. Now tell me something, why do you hate me so much?" he asked.

Gar could only smile at his teacher's response and tried to keep himself from laughing. He went without answering. Light sighed as he turned from him momentarily. The doctor gazed at his nearly deserted classroom as he continued.

"I know I'm not your favorite teacher. And I know that you don't agree with my teaching methods either. As do any of my other students. But from what I heard from other teachers you're a great kid. All I ask is that you show me some respect and we wont have to go around like this every week. I can have you expelled for gross misconduct and insubordination. I've already sent you to the principle several times. Up till now I've been lenient giving you just detention. But if this continues…the future doesn't look too bright. I've given you plenty of chances Gar. This is your last one." he said.

"Right." said Gar.

"You are excused." His teacher said.

Light called out to him again as he reached the door.

"And Gar, let's _not_ do this again. I have a life too you know."

Gar let out a chuckle as he left the room. After he was gone Dr. Light rolled his eyes.

"Ugh. Teenagers." He groaned.

Later that evening when baseball practice was over Slade and Richard were walking off the field with their bags slung over one shoulder talking with each other.

"All right see ya later Rich." Said Slade.

"Later man." Rich said as they parted ways.

As they walked over to there cars, two men stood on the rooftop of building. Their images are hidden. Only the backs of their boots are visible then when it zooms out the two men stand with arms crossed their images hidden by the sun behind them.

"A new city." said the man on the right.

"A new place to have our revenge." Said the man on the left.

The two of them watched Slade drive off. The two men turned and made there way to the rooftop door. Making their way down the dark stairway, judging from their outlines they seemed to be mercenary type. A sword is seen mounted on one's back and a bandolier over his chest. They seemed to be heavily armed. Coming down the stairway they're met by a third person dressed in a red hoodie and jeans with the hood pulled up and a black gothic bird design on the front of the hoodie. Like the others his face was hidden as well.

"We should thank you with the information you've given us." Said the man with the sword.

"Its not a problem. If you want to thank me, there is something you can do for Me." said the man in the hoodie.

"Taking care of business is what we do." Said the second man that was closest to him.

"There's a man in a crimson helmet that calls himself Red Hood. Find and eliminate him and we'll call it even." Said the hooded man.

"It's a deal." said the man with the sword.

"Consider it done." Said the man in front.

The man in the hoodie nodded. "Good." He said.

Later that evening The Red Hood stood solitary on a rooftop in the city. It was nighttime now the perfect time for him to be out. Oddly enough he wasn't out to cause trouble tonight. Just to get away from Ryan and the others. They had been wearing a little thin on his nerves lately and went out to clear his head for a while. Even villains need their peace and quiet sometimes. As he stood on the rooftop brooding, he thought back to when he was alive. A cool crisp wind was blowing through the air. He could hear it whistling past his helmet. With no one else around he reached for the clasps on the sides of his helmet and undid them. He removed his helmet and dropped it down to his side revealed as a young man with black hair and a red domino mask. The wind blew through his short wavy hair for the first time in ages.

"Well, well what do we have here?" came a voice.

The Red Hood immediately replaced his helmet and turned to face the two men.

"Who are you clowns suppose to be?" he asked.

The first one was a man decked out in black and blue mercenary gear wearing a sky blue cowl with red eyes. He had a bandolier and sword on his back. With armor plating going down his arms Black shirt and pants with armor plating on his knees and shins.

"The name's Slaughter." The first mercenary introduced.

The other one was a man dressed like the Grim Reaper. Wearing a steel angular skull shaped mask with hallow cheeks and dimensions. He wore a jet-black costume with a tattered cape. On his chest was body armor in the shape of a rib cage. With three stylized bars forming the ribs in bent upwards like spider legs. With armor on his shins and right forearm and had a cybernetic left arm.

"And I'm Executioner. We've been sent to eliminate you." the second one said.

"Who sent you?" demanded Red Hood.

"Sorry that's on a need to know basis." Said Slaughter.

Red Hood assumed a fighting stance, drawing for his guns. Slaughter and Executioner charge him. Red Hood draws his handguns and opens fire on them. The two of them easily dodge his fire. Slaughter jumps in the air and drew his sword. Red Hood tumbled out of the way Slaughter's sword struck the ground. Executioner blindsides him with his shoulder knocking him to the ground again. Slaughter swings his sword diagonally at him. Red Hood rolls and kicks the blade getting back to his feet. Slaughter swings at him again horizontally. Red Hood jumps and stood on the sword in midair he kicks Slaughter in the face knocking him to the ground. Red Hood lands as Executioner took his turn at him. He swings at him with his human arm. Red Hood dodges it as the mercenary comes back at him with his cybernetic left arm and nails him in the side and sends him flying.

The Hood landed rough on the ground. He wasn't done yet as Slaughter rejoined his partner. Red Hood on bended knee faces his adversaries. He drew his guns again. As Executioner's left arm transformed into a cannon Red Hood eyes widened in shock. Ex fires a blast from his cannon. A large explosion is seen from the street corner. Red Hood dodged the attack. Slaughter charges him again with his sword. The Hood blocks it with the top of his gun and struggles to hold him off. Red Hood kicked him in the gut and knocked him away and fired twice at him point blank. Executioner fired another cannon blast at him. Red Hood jumped high in the air as the blast hit. A fireball burned beneath him as he flipped through the air. Unfurling in mid-air he took aim and fired the bullet grazes Ex's temple as Red Hood came down and fired again. He punched Ex in the cheek and knocked him down as the Hood began to make his escape.

"You're not going anywhere!" yelled Slaughter as he pulled out a gun and shot at him.

He hit Red Hood in the shoulder. He stumbled as he tried getting away. He turned and fired back at Slaughter.

"Get him!" Slaughter yelled getting up and chasing after him.

His partner was up and after him soon after that. Red Hood stopped in his tracks and turned around to face the engaging mercenaries.

"All right if that's the way you want to throw down. Then bring it on!" the Hood said drawing a kriss blade sword.

Slaughter was the first to attack him as he redrew his own saber. Their swords clash in midair. They attempt to overpower each other and then the real action starts. Their swords flash and sing under the full moon light. Crashing steel flashing to and fro as sparks fly from their blades under intense combat neither of them about to back down as the Hood bravely held his own against the mercenary. Executioner soon joined the fray with his own sword as they doubled teamed the Hood. Red Hood spins dodging their blades as he jabs the air with his. Slaughter backs off as Hood came after him. Executioner spun and slings his sword taking a piece out of Red Hood's side. The crook groaned in pain. Slaughter took advantage and slashed the Hood's shoulder cutting through his leather jacket. His knees buckled as Slaughter drew back his saber ready to impale him. He slides his sword in. The Hood blocked his attack with the flat of his sword protecting his vital organs from the attack. Leaving him open to Executioner's attack as he drew his sword over his shoulder ready to lop off his head. The Hood saw this at the last second and blocked it with the base of his blade. Once again leaving himself open to Slaughter's attack in a Catch-22 situation. As Slaughter went into strike Red Hood twisted his body and forced Executioner into Slaughter. With the two of them completely off guard Slaughter pulls back his blade to prevent killing his buddy. Executioner falls on top of Slaughter as Red Hood makes his getaway.

The Hood runs in staggering gallop to evade his would be killers leaving a trail of blood behind him. It didn't take long for the two of them to recover. As Executioner got off of Slaughter the two of them got to there feet and went after the Hood.

The Red Hood leaned heavily against a brick chimney. Bloodstains covered the side of it. He struggled to catch his breath as his blood dripped on the ground. There was a blast of explosion blowing the chimney apart and sending him to the ground. Slaughter and Executioner stood behind him with smoke issuing from his cannon. The Hood struggled to get up trapped under bricks and debris as the two walked up to him. Red Hood managed to pull himself from under the debris to his feet. His helmet having been knocked off from the blast lies at his feet. He stands before them bloody and beaten but still willing to fight. He had a small gash on his forehead with a line of blood streaming down over the right eye of his domino mask.

"Kid's got plenty of fight left in him." said Executioner.

Red Hood clutched his wounded shoulder breathing raggedly. He assumed a fighting stance with the remaining strength he had.

"Heh heh heh. A fighter to the end I see." Slaughter chuckled at the weakened fighter's plight.

"I'm going to ask you again…who…do you work for?" The Hood asked gasping for breath.

"That would be me." came a voice as the man in the hooded sweatshirt stepped forth.

He pulled back his hood revealing himself Red Hood's eyes widened in shock.

"Malchior!"

"Guilty as charged." The knight said with hands raised up in mock defense.

"How could you do this to me?!" The Hood growled.

"Because I can. Times are changing Red Hood and your time on Earth is done." The knight said.

"You bastard!!!" Red Hood yelled charging them.

Executioner's arm transformed into cannon and fired at him point blank range. The resulting explosion blew up the corner of the building. His flaming corpse was seen hurtling to the streets below.

"Oooh that's got to hurt." Malchior said.

The two mercenaries laughed as one of them kicked Red Hood's helmet off the ledge to the street below.

"All right boys as promised you're free to go after your real target." Malchior told them.

"Yes and now we can have our revenge." Said Slaughter.

The trio left the rooftop. Down below in the streets under the smoldering pile of rubble a charred and bloody hand reaches up. Red Hood pulls himself out of the rubble all that's left of his clothes is his torn up jeans. His body smoked, bloody and beaten The Hood struggles to pull himself out of the wreckage with the sound of approaching sirens. His domino mask peeling the left lens cracked with blood pouring down over the right. His helmet lay at the foot of the pile discarded like yesterday's trash. Enraged the Red Hood let out a fierce yell.

He stumbles out of the alleyway bleeding from his shoulders and side. His destroyed domino mask fell off as he trekked down the alleyway. Groping the wall as he staggered with what little strength he had left. He made it out of the alley a bloody mess. A man once so great has been reduced to this. He walked out into the street blinded by pain and drunken with rage. An oncoming car screeches to a stop, but cannot stop in time as its blazing headlights consumed him. Red Hood in his most deprived form lay broken in the street. A group of people circled around him. With the red flashing lights of an ambulance parked nearby as paramedics rushed to pick him up off the street. They lay him on a stretcher and hauled him into the ambulance. The last thing Red Hood sees is the ambulance doors closing before his eyes failed him.

On the other side of the city in the country Malchior gave Slaughter and Executioner the location of the Wintergreen Estate.

"Now that we've taken care of Red Hood, you two can finally have your revenge on the Wintergreen Family." Said Malchior.

"Beginning with his son, Slade Wilson." said Slaughter.

_Authors Note: And there you have it. Is he a bastard or what? Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you think of it. _

_Review!!_


	28. Return to Racing

_Authors Note: All right so here we are in the 28th chapter. Thought I'd take a little break from the action for a while to give you this. I know your all on edge wanting to know what became of Red Hood. He should make an appearance in the next chapter hopefully. Needless to say Im not done with him yet. I want to thank everyone for all their reviews so far. The alerts system at is down again so it could be a while before some of you get the chapter alert. With that said, its time to get on with the show! Here's the 28th chapter of X High School enjoy_

Chapter 28

"Return to Racing"

It was Wed. evening at Old Navy Field in downtown San Antholas. Earlier that day he had been excused from class to prepare for the big race tonight. It was his first time racing since the accident in Houston nearly 2 months ago and had dropped down to 12th place during his absence from racing. Roy Harper has remained in the top 5 and is in 3rd place in the overall standings. After humiliating himself like he did. He wasn't sure if he had what it takes to compete. Not only that, he didn't have a bike to race with. Not since his was destroyed in the Astrocross. He stood there on the barren track in a denim jacket, white shirt and jeans. Bruce walked up to him on the track.

"How come you're not in uniform?" his dad asked.

"What's the point? Without a bike I'm useless." Rich said.

"That's not what the guys at the trailer said." Bruce said rubbing his chin.

Richard gave him a weird look.

"Come on there's something I want to show you." He said leading his son.

Richard sighed and followed after his dad. When they got up to the team trailer he led him around the back to the other side. When Richard came around the corner he couldn't believe his eyes. Standing before him was an orange and black motorcycle with the entire crew standing behind the bike next to the racing trailer. Rich's jaw dropped, this was no ordinary racing bike.

"Holy shiznik! That's a KTM! That's a freakin' KTM Duke 620!!! Oh my god!" Richard yelled jumping up and down in mixed excitement and shock.

"Where did you get this?!" he asked Bruce.

Rich still couldn't believe the bike was real. He was touching the gas tank, but he couldn't believe the bike was actually here.

"We're not sure where it came from. Somebody left the bike next to the trailer and had a ribbon saying that it was for you." Said Bruce.

"Are you serious?" Richard said turning away from the bike for one second.

"I wouldn't lie about something like that." Bruce admitted.

Up in the stands above their range of view stood Roy Harper, the teen looked down on the Wayne Racing crew and saw them gathered around the bike. The red clad racer nodded and then turned and left without anyone noticing.

"Wait I don't have an orange uniform!" Richard realized.

All the crew members looked at each other and then scrambled to find a uniform for Richard. While you may not think its important a rider's bike and uniform must be the same color or have similar color pattern which is stated in the rules. Crew members rush from one team trailer to the next in hopes of finding one. Which is unusual because most teams don't go to another team for help fortunately one of them managed to find Grant Emerson's trailer whose colors are orange and blue.

Grant gave the crew member his uniform. It was predominately orange with blue on the under side of the sleeves. With a radioactive symbol and team name "Damage Inc." on the front with his name and number on the back.

"It may be a little big for him." Said Grant.

"It'll due thanks!" the crewman said running off.

Grant closed the door to his trailer. Luckily he has several back-up uniforms. The Wayne Racing crewman ran across the field passing several trailers on his way back. He was met up by the other team members as they raced back to the trailer. Once there with some duct tape they covered up Emerson's name and jersey number on the back of the uniform and gave it to Richard for him to change into. A few minutes later he emerged wearing the all orange uniform with black protective gear. The front of the vest had "Wayne Racing" in white with "Grayson 15" on the back. Grabbing his black helmet and goggles he made his way over to the bike. He ran his gloved hand across the length of the bike. And then got on the bike for the first time he wrapped his hands around the handles. Kick started the bike and was off. He only had a few minutes to complete his practice lap.

Richard had just barely got done with his practice lap when he heard the 2 minute warning over the address system.

"All racers report to the starting line. Repeat all racers report to the starting line now." The stadium announcer said.

Richard spun his bike around and headed for the starting line. As he made his way over, fans were cheering him. Richard punched the air as he popped a wheelie headed toward the back of the hill. Slade and friends were in the stands cheering him on. a few seconds later Richard pulled up along side the other racers at the starting gate.

The arena lights were shining bright as they lighted up the dirt track. While several of them focused on the starting gate.

"Good evening everyone and welcome to Old Navy Field for the American Eagle 250. And tonight we welcome back Richard Grayson to the racing circuit making his first appearance since his wreck two months ago in Houston. Let's give him a hand!" the announcer said.

The area erupted in cheers as camera zoomed in on him showing him on the mega screen. Kori whistled as Raven, Gar, Slade, Vic, and Tara all cheered him on. This was the first time they all made it out to a race. Richard smiled as he lifted his helmet high above him as the accolades continued to fall. The applause continued for 5 minutes.

"And now let's get ready to motocross!!!" the announcer said.

The racers started up their bikes and revved up their engines. Richard put his helmet on and started his bike. The roar of their engines filled the air white smoke poured from the exhausts. The Boardman stands on the other side of the gate holding up the 15 second sign above his head. And ran off the track

"Racers ready!" the announcer said.

Riders leaned forward on their bikes revving their engines their knuckles turning white beneath their gloves. Everyone's on edge in anticipation. The light went green the gate drops and their off with Richard Grayson flying out the gate followed by other racers.

"Come on!" yelled Kori.

Richard come flying down the straightaway and over the first hill coming out the first turn of the race in first place.

"Yeah!" Kori yelled as she jumped in the air.

Richard went flying down the track at 70 mph keeping a slight lead over the other racers. As he cleared the next hill and came down with ease. Several racers broke away from the pack and went after Rich. Two of them broke away from the rest of the ground and came up behind Richard. He looked back and saw the two.

"Not good." Rich said to himself.

He hit the throttle and popped a wheelie as he went up the next hill. Before he could reach the top the two racers passed him and jumped the hill landing on the next one a head of him knocking him down to second place as the two now battled one another for first. The rider on the right got the edge over his competitor and took over first. As other racers started catching up to Richard and succeeded in passing him. Kori implored him to do better from her seat and the others joined in. Richard was passed by a green rider bumping him down to forth place. By this time Richard had enough and hit the throttle as he passed the guy that just passed him taking back third. He poured it on as he took it up to 75 and made a giant leap through the air clearing two hills. Now he's starting to get in the groove. He rocketed over the next hill catching up to the two racers from earlier. They dug into the next turn with mud flying as they raced up the straightaway. As the rest of the pack leap over the hill behind them fast gaining on them.

He chased after the second place racer all around the track across the hills and through the straightaway and lapping the pack. Whoever this guy is he's good. And he wasn't the only one. About this time Grant Emerson breaks away from the pack and challenges Richard for third place. The two of them battle it out. Rich guns it as he races up the hill with Grant in tow. The two of them leap over the hill high above the first level seats. Kori, Slade and the others cheer him on.

"Yeah go Rich!" yelled Kori.

The two racers touched back down on solid earth and kept going. They weren't far behind the second and first place racers as they came around the corner and jumped another hill. Fans were getting to their feet as they came into the home stretch. Richard red lines it as he went up the next hill and flew 200 feet across the arena. He lifted himself off his bike and twisted the lower half of his body and pumped his legs like he was running through midair before he returned to the seat of his bike and came in for a landing. The crowd went wild at Rich's airborne stunt. Grant shook his head. That little stunt has just put Richard in second place. Their down to the wire as Rich catches up to the leader a guy in a red and black uniform with #100 on the back of his black vest in red outlines. Their coming into the final stretch Richard guns it one more time and goes flying over the hill past the leader and does a back flip soaring through the air. He comes out of the flip and lands past the finish line winning the race. The stadium erupts Kori jumps up in the air and hugs Vic as he laughs. Raven hugged Slade whopping and hollering and Gar and Tara did the same. The man that had just lost the race threw down his helmet as the other racers jumped over the finish line as the race came to a close.

The enraged racer looked over at Richard with a very sullen look.

"Who the f&! is that guy?!" he growled.

Richard was up on the winner's platform with his bike. As they handed him his trophy and the awarding the cup gave him a kiss on the cheek. Richard hoisted the cup above his head to the cheering audience. The man who lost gritted his teeth angrily at Richard.

"Hey man let it go." Said one of the other racers.

The red and black clad racer looked at him and knocked him off his bike. A while later Richard came down from the platform where his friends joined him. One them helped bring his bike down the ramp. Kori wrapped her arms around Rich's neck and hugged him as tight as she could.

"You won! You really won!" she said overjoyed.

Richard's face was starting to turn red, not from embarrassment but from her superhuman strength.

"Kori…it's kind of hard to breathe." He said.

"Oh sorry!" she said letting go of him blushing.

"You were awesome out there dude!" said Gar.

"You kicked ass!" said Vic.

"Well done." Said Raven.

"I can't believe you did two stunts!" said Slade.

"Thanks guys." Said Rich.

"So how does it feel to be back out there?" asked Tara.

"It felt great!" he answered.

"Where did you get that bike?" asked Vic.

"Yeah man, that thing's awesome!" said Gar.

By that time the rider that lost to Richard pushed Gar, Tara and Vic out of the way grabbed Richard and threw him to the ground.

"You think you can show me up like that?" the racer demanded.

The guys grabbed a hold of him by the shoulders he struggles to throw them off. Richard got to his feet and was going to punch him out. Kori got in-between them as several other people tried breaking up the fight and keeping them separated.

"This is bulls&! He doesn't deserve that trophy!" the rider yelled as several men escorted him away.

Kori still had a hold of Richard, he growled menacingly at the disgruntle rider.

"Forget him man. He's not worth it." Vic told him.

Richard finally managed to settle down. He relaxed his shoulders and Kori let him go.

"He's just mad that you beat him." Said Gar.

"Who was that guy?" Slade asked.

"His name's Rex Nordeman and he's the last guy you want to piss off."

Grant Emerson was walking over to them. He saw the whole thing,

"What makes him so special?" Gar asked.

"He's the defending champion. He's just pissed that Rich beat him. I got to say Grayson; you put on a pretty good show. You got guts kid." Grant said.

"Thanks." Rich nodded.

"Don't worry about Rex, he'll cool off eventually. Nice job out there Grayson, congratulations." Grant said.

"Thanks Grant, oh your jersey." Rich said.

"Keep it I got plenty of others." Grant said.

"No really I'll wash it and give it back to you." Rich told him.

"Yeah but you need an orange jersey to go with the orange bike." Grant said.

"Yeah but I'll get the bike repainted so you can have it back." Rich said.

"Just keep it for now." Grant told him.

"All right." Rich said.

"Is that a KTM?" Grant asked.

"Yeah."

"Sweet wish I had the money." Grant said.

"Yeah it's a pretty smooth ride." Rich said.

"I bet. All right, well I better get back. I'll catch you later, nice work out there man." Grant said.

"Thanks." Rich said.

"Yeah way to go Rich!" Slade said patting his shoulder.

"Knew you could do it man!" Gar said doing the same.

He could hear applause coming from behind him. It was the Wayne Racing crew standing behind his friends with Bruce amongst them. Slade, Vic, Gar and the other crewmembers picked Rich up and tossed him in the air and caught him before doing it again.

"Whoa! Hey guys!" Rich yelled arms flailing as he was thrown in the air.

The girls joined in the celebration with the others. Only Bruce and a few other crewmembers didn't participate in throwing their champion in the air.

"Guys come on I'm getting air sick!" Rich pleaded.

"You better not get sick on us dude!" said Gar.

The guys put Rich down afterwards. One of the crewmembers gives Richard back his trophy and he hoists it in the air once again to the applause of his crew and friends.

"Let's go to Joe's everyone, Rich's buying!" said the crew chief.

"Yeah!" they all year ushering up applause.

"Wait why am I paying? I _won_ the race." Rich joked.

"Winner always buys." His crew chief joked back.

"I'm not paying for booze." Rich said.

"Eh, you never could hold your liquor." The crew chief joked.

Richard playfully punched his arm as they walked back to the trailer.

"I'm just kidding, you're a good kid." The chief said.

Kori threw his arm around Dick's neck.

"I'm glad you won the race." She said.

"You and me both." he said showing her the trophy.

Raven walked up and threw her arm around his neck.

"You did great today Rich." She said.

"Of course, I'm Rich Grayson. I always come out on top." He smiled.

Vic walked up behind them. "But seriously who gave you that KTM?" he asked.

"I don't know, but if I see him. I'll have to thank him someday." Rich said.

As they were walking up the dirt track Roy Harper leaned up against his team-racing trailer with his arms and legs crossed.

"Hey Grayson…"

Rich turned around and saw him standing there.

"Great job today." He said.

"Thanks." Rich said.

Roy nodded to him, as they started off.

"You're going to need all the help you can get to finish this season. Especially with Rex Nordeman in the picture. No one's ever made a comeback from 12th place. If you're as good as you say you are then I wish you the best of luck." Roy thought as he pushed his bike inside the trailer.

Later that night the gang was hanging out at Joe's Pizza in downtown San Antholas. Richard, along with teammates and friends were celebrating the teen prodigy's win. They sat in the middle of the room with 4 tables joined together in a row. As Richard, Bruce and friends sat at the head of the table and his crew members sat at the adjoining tables down the row. As the waitresses brought their drinks, several of the servers congratulated Richard on his win. On the other side of the room was a giant wall-sized TV showing scenes from SportsCenter. On screen was a game between the Dallas Mavericks basketball team and the Portland Trailblazers. And showed a Dallas Maverick in blue go up for a slam dunk winning the game against the Trailblazers.

"…and the Mavs beat the Blazers tonight by a score of 111-93. Over now to the Charlotte Bobcats taking on the Houston Rockets…" The sportscaster's voice drowned out by the chatter of restaurant patrons.

The waitress delivered the first pizza to Richard and his friends. An extra large pepperoni and cheese pizza was set out in front of them no sooner as she set the pizza down they dove in scooping up heaps of hot, gooey slices of pizza perfection.

The sportscaster's voice came back into the foreground telling of how the Bobcats defeated the Rockets. When a Charlotte player in white makes a three point jumper shot and sinks the basket winning the game.

"…and the Bobcats beat the Rockets by a score of 121-117. Switching gears over to the world of motocross tonight marked the return of Rich Grayson." The announcer said on screen.

Everyone turned to face the big screen with Richard decked out in full racing gear on his bike just minutes before the race began with him waving to the crowd as they cheered his return to racing. In the restraint everyone cheered and applauded seeing their boy on TV. Vic shakes Rich as Gar and Slade slapped him on the back. Rich smiled as they watched the highlights of the race.

"Since his wreck 2 months ago, the San Antholas native dropped down in the rankings to 12th place. Debuting on a new bike and new uniform Richard took charge tonight and clawed his way to 1st in the American Eagle 250. And take a look at these stunts!" the sportscaster said.

The clip showed Rich performing his sky-walking stunt. With half his body hanging over the bike like he was running in midair on his side before pulling himself back on the bike and coming in for a landing. And then the next one that showed him doing the back flip towards the end of the race that made him famous earlier this season. Everyone in the restraint was going wild

"Incredible! And takes the win over current Supercross champion Rex Nordeman." The announcer said.

They show Kori's reaction to the race with her jumping and hugging Vic. and their friends celebrating with them. With a later scene of Rich holding up the trophy and getting a kiss on the cheek from the girl that gave him the award. The on-screen graphics change showing the place rankings from the race.

"And tonight Rich Grayson moves up to 11th. But he still has a long way to go if he's to finish this season in the top 5. We'll be keeping an eye on him in the weeks to come. Baseball Tonight is next. For SportCenter, I'm Scott Stewart." The announcer said as he signed off.

Rich's friends and crew members whooped and hollered clinking glasses together. At the same time the door opened and in walked several friends from school. Kole and Ga'arrk walked in followed by Leonid and Argent and several others from school.

"Hey guys!" Kole said.

"Hey!" they said.

Kole walked over behind Richard and hugged him from behind.

"I saw the race, you were great tonight!" she said.

"Thanks Kole." Rich smiled.

"No problem. That flip you did at the end was awesome. How did you do it?" she asked.

"It's not that hard. I just get up enough speed when I'm climbing the hill and throw my weight back when I go for the flip." He said.

"That's great!" Kole said releasing him.

Leonid was the next one to congratulate him placing his hand on Rich's shoulder.

"You did very good tonight my friend." Leonid told him.

"Thanks Leonid." Rich said looking up at him.

"You did great tonight." Ga'Narrk said very gruffly through his necklace translator.

"Thanks." Rich said.

"Saw ya on the telly tonight. You mopped the floor with em mate." Argent said high-fiving Richard.

"Thanks guys." He said.

His teacher Mr. Blud walked over to Richard. "You made us proud tonight, Richard."

This caught Rich by surprise it was the first time he called him by his first name. He looked up at his teacher.

"Um, thanks!" he said.

"But don't expect me to go easy on you." Mr. Blud told him.

"Right sir." Rich laughed.

"Have a good night." Mr. Blud told him as he walked off.

Kole walks over to Vic.

"Hey Vic." She said

"Oh hey Kole." He said.

The pink haired girl bent down to give him a hug.

"How have you been?" he asked.

"I've been doing good and how about you?" she asked.

"Doing great so what have you been up to?" he asked.

"Not much. Same old, same old." She said.

In the background someone changed the channel that was showing "Austin Powers in Goldmember" with Scottish bad guy Fat Bastard as a sumo wrestler in his famous wire gag. Patrons turn around to see him running across the room to a row of men that are sitting a hot tub. The men scream when they see the behemoth coming towards them. He leaps in midair about to pounce on Austin Powers when just then his wire breaks and he's left dangling sideways in midair. With the fat Scotsman complaining about his predicament as he's left slowly twirling on his one remaining wire. The restaurant was filled with riotous laughter.

While they watched the movie Slade's phone started beeping. He had a strange look on his face as he was reading the next message.

"What the hell?" he said under his breath.

"Everything all right?" Raven asked.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I just got to take care of something." He said getting up he gave Raven a kiss on the temple.

"I'll see you later." He said rubbing her back.

"Ok, bye." Raven said.

She turned around and watched him walk out the door. Something didn't seem right with him. He walked down the dark alley next to the restaurant where the message told him to meet. Something really didn't seem right about this.

"Hello?" he said.

Slaughter and Executioner come out of the shadows and stand in the midst of the alley. Slade assumed a defense stance.

"Hello Slade." Said Executioner.

"Who are you guys?" he asked.

"Your end." Said Slaughter.

_Author's Note: This one turned out a little longer than I expected. Hope everyone liked this chapter and are ready to see the big throw down in the next chapter. _

_Review!!!_


	29. Targeted

_Author's Note: Hey here we are finally at the 29th chapter. I'm sorry for the wait I would have updated sooner. I've been busy with a few things but now at last I've finally posted the next chapter in the continuing story. And now here's Chapter 29 of X High School: Slaughter and Executioner. enjoy_

Chapter 29

"Slaughter & Executioner"

"Who are you guys?" said Slade.

He was faced by two heavily armed mercenaries. Slade was in defensive stance ready for them.

"Your end." said Slaughter.

Slade clenched his fists in anticipation as the two men stepped forward. Should he transform or take them on as he is?

"Why don't you transform Slade?" Slaughter asked as they closed in on him.

"What?!" Slade said surprised.

The two men charged him.

"All right!" Slade said assertively.

A burst of orange light emanated from his body and he was transformed into Deathstroke. The Titan drew his sword as they came after him. Slaughter and Executioner drew their weapons. Their swords clashed. Slade held his ground against them. Their blade crossed in an "X" over his as he held them back with his weapon. Slaughter smiled as Slade was losing ground. He drew back his sword and held it over his head.

"Kill him!" said Executioner.

Slaughter slings his sword downward. Slade jumps back avoiding his strike. as Executioner jabs his blade at Deathstroke's chest. The Titan jumps back again as the two mercenaries drew their swords back over opposing shoulders and swing him diagonally in an X. Slade dropped the ground avoiding them. They have him now; he rolled over to the side as they jam the ground with their swords. He was lying against the wall in serious trouble. The two men had him cornered. When drew his pistol and fired causing them to jump back. He continued shooting at them getting to his feet. The gunshots could be heard from inside the restaurant as a dead silence fell over the establishment followed by panic. As the other Titans jumped to their feet. Raven ducked down under the table disappearing into darkness without anyone noticing. From outside the gunfire continued. He had them on the run. When Executioner turned around and fired his cannon arm at Deathstroke resulting in a large explosion. The force of the blast sends the armored Titan flying across the alley and into the street landing hard on his back. Raven appears above the ally in the shadows in costumed form wearing a blue hooded cape with a mask that covered her mouth. She saw the two men and then turned back around and saw Deathstroke lying on his back trying to get up.

"Slade!" she said softly so not to blow her cover.

Deathstroke struggled getting up. The two men chuckle as they walk towards him.

"Please get up!" Raven said.

He finally managed to get to his feet with his sword in hand ready to go another round.

"This is too easy." said Executioner.

"Maybe its time I even the odds!" came Raven's voice.

The two look up and are hit by a burst of black energy sending them flying down the dark end of the alley way with loud crash. Slade looked up and saw Raven hovering in midair the edges of her cape drifting in the air.

"Raven! What are you doing here?" he said.

"Didn't think I'd let you have all the fun did you?" she said with a smile.

The two mercenaries are back on their feet. As Executioner transformed his arm again and fire a powerful cannon blast. Raven put up a shield filling the walls of the alleyway. The beam hit Raven try her best to hold it but couldn't. The force of the explosion sent Deathstroke and Raven flying across the street. They hit the ground hard. Slaughter and Executioner coming out of the alley. Thinking fast Slade tumbled forward and threw two of his shurikens. The disks expanded into blade form in midair and sailed just inches in front of the villains' noses. The shurikens lodged themselves into the opposing walls and explode. The walls come crashing down on top of Slaughter and Executioner. Slade grabbed Raven's hand and take off down the street.

They ran for several blocks before ducking in another ally to rest. They leaned against the wall completely out of breath. Slade powered down to his civilian form completely wiped out. Raven pulled down her mask her silver skin glistening in the moonlight. She looked over at Slade.

"Who were those guys?"

"I don't know." Slade shook his head. "I've never seen them before."

"Are you ok?" Raven asked him.

"Yeah I'm ok, are you?" he asked.

"Yeah we should probably call the others." she said.

Slade nodded. "Yeah."

He took out his cell phone "Titans, come in."

"Slade? Where are you? What's going on?" Came Rich's voice on the other end.

"It's a little hard to explain right now. I was attacked by two guys in armor. Raven's here with me. We managed to get away." he told him.

"Stay there, we'll there in a minute." Richard told him.

"There isn't going to be enough time." Slaughter said above them.

The two of them froze. Raven pulled up her mask they turned and looked up at Slaughter and Executioner standing on the ledge of a building above them. Slade put a protective arm in front of Raven.

"Who are you guys, what do you want with me?" he demanded.

The two mercenaries jumped off the ledge and landed in front of them. Slade and Raven took a few steps back.

"We're here for a little payback." said Executioner.

"Your dad screwed us over several years ago." said Slaughter.

"What are you talking about?" Slade demanded keeping their distance from them.

"About five or six years ago we were employees of your father's agency International Search and Rescue." Slaughter explained.

Slade's eyes widened in shock. "What?"

"We were on a rescue mission in Siberia in the mountain region." Slaughter said.

"There was an avalanche that destroyed my left arm." Executioner said showing them his cybernetic appendage.

"Your father left us for dead." Slaughter said.

"My dad would never do that." Slade said shaking his head.

"You obviously don't know him very well." Executioner said arms crossed.

"Nobody talks about my Dad like that." Slade said in serious tone.

He changed back to Deathstroke ready to fight. Slaughter and Executioner assume fighting stance. Deathstroke glared at them with his one exposed eye. Slaughter gave a sinister smile.

"Let's take this upstairs." he said.

Executioner teleports them to Raven and Slade's surprise leaving her behind. They ended up on the roof of a building just the three of them. Slade drew his staff. The two drew their swords.

"The swords again?" Deathstroke said.

"Got a problem with that?" said Slaughter.

Deathstroke gripped his staff with both hands and pointed his weapon at them.

"Not at all." he said accepting the challenge.

"Let's take him down once and for all." said Executioner.

The two mercenaries charged him.

"Bring it on!" yelled Deathstroke and charged back.

They ran to the center. Slaughter and Executioner held their swords above their heads and brought them down on Deathstroke who blocked them with his staff. He pushed them back a couple steps taking on Slaughter by himself. Deathstroke swung his staff like a bat. To which Slaughter blocked with his blade their weapons held under stress. They jumped back and struck again steel against steel. Their weapons clashed diagonally and horizontally. At first it seemed like they were evenly matched. Slaughter took a swing at him. Deathstroke leaned back avoiding the blade and then continued battle with him. Slaughter had him against the ropes, driving him back with each swipe of his blade. Deathstroke continually blocked his attacks blow for blow. Slaughter swung at him horizontally. Deathstroke dodged and tumbled he struck Slaughter in the back of his knee with his staff. The villain cried out in pain as his knee buckled when he turned around to see Slade in the batting position. He swings and smacked Slaughter in the cheek. The mercenary spun and fell to the ground.

Slaughter rolled across the ground the side of his face black and blue. That was when Executioner jumped in. Now it was time to face the muscle of the group. Execution came in with a powerful cybernetic punch that sent Deathstroke flying across the rooftop and crashing into the brick stairwell building. His helmet protected him for the most part. And even still he could feel it through his mask. As Executioner came towards him, Deathstroke quickly got to his feet.

As the fight went on Robin and the others arrived in the ally.

"Raven, where's Slade?" Robin asked.

"Up there." she pointed.

"Let's go!" he said.

"Wait!" she said.

Robin, Starfire, Stone, Terra and Beast Boy all looked back at her.

"This is his fight." Raven said.

Back on the rooftop, Deathstroke spun through the air with a flying kick and knocked Executioner back a step. The armored Titan threw in a couple of jabs in the abdomen trying to wear him down. Deathstroke threw another punch only to be caught by Executioner. His eye widened in shock. As the skull faced villain brought the Titan's own fist back at him followed up by another punch to the stomach. Deathstroke groaned in pain. Executioner picked him up above his shoulder and threw him across the ground. Deathstroke rolled across the ground. By this time Slaughter was getting up. Slade didn't know how much longer he could keep this up.

Robin and the others watched on from another rooftop.

"Come on Slade you can beat them!" yelled Stone.

"Get up Slade!" yelled Robin.

"Don't give up buddy!" yelled Beast Boy.

"Come on Slade!" yelled Raven.

"Get up!" said Starfire.

"Deathstroke I know you can win!" yelled Terra.

"Get up!" yelled Beast Boy.

"Don't give in!" yelled Stone.

Slade struggled to get to his feet. Using his weapon as a crutch and with all his strength he slowly picks himself off the ground with his friends cheering him on. He replaced his staff and drew his sword.

"Its time to finish this." Said Slade.

The Titan pointed his sword straight at Slaughter and Executioner. His sword began to glow orange and he took his fighting stance. This is it, all or nothing. The men stood back in surprise they didn't know he has that power.

"You're through!" Deathstroke said.

"You're the one that's finished!" yelled Slaughter as they ran into to attack him.

"We'll see about that!" Deathstroke yelled back as he charged the mercenaries.

Slade ran towards them with his energized katana as Slaughter and Executioner hurled their sabers. Slade blocked Executioner's sword holding him off. Slaughter swings at him. Deathstroke turned and blocked his blade in mid-swing. Deathstroke managed to hold him and began pushing him back. Executioner attacks from behind swung horizontally. His sheath and banderol protected Slade from the attack as he concentrated on fighting Slaughter. Executioner went in for another attack. Deathstroke spins 180 degrees with an energy slash knocking Slaughter backward and catching Executioner's saber with his forcing it out of his hands. Slade does a tornado kick and knocks Executioner back. Slaughter goes to attack him from behind. Slade dodges it and spins around once more deflecting his blade with a low-flying strike and catches Slaughter at an awkward stance trying to hold his ground and his blade. Slade manages to overpower him and sends him flying to the ground. Executioner runs back in to attack him again. He jams his sword Deathstroke drops to one knee as it narrowly misses his shoulder. Deathstroke brings his sword behind his back and cuts Executioner's leg. He spins around on knee and slashes him across the stomach. Executioner falls backwards to the ground. Slaughter went to attack him from behind again only to have Slade's blade pointed right at his throat. He froze in place with Deathstroke still on one knee in the opposite direction.

"I'm getting real sick of you people trying that." He said never facing him.

Deathstroke knocks him off his feet with a sweep. The Titan brings his sword down on Slaughter. The mercinary did a backflip with Slade just missing him. Slaughter grabbed his sword and engaged each other again. At that same time a wounded Executioner rose to his feet clutching his stomach. He growled menacingly as he pointed his cannon blaster at them.

"Watch out!!!" Raven yelled.

Deathstroke looked back to see him.

"What are you doing?!" Slaughter yelled.

Executioner fired his cannon at them blowing up the rooftop and causing half the building to collapse taking Slaughter and Deathstroke along with it.

"Nooooo!" Raven screamed.

The Titans were about to jump into action. Executioner staggered on his remaining side of the building. Before they could reach him there was a gunshot. Executioner cried out in pain followed by several more shots before he collapsed to the ground. The Titans looked up to see who fired the shots. At the same time a weakened Executioner turned over on his side and couldn't believe what he saw, on the ledge of the rooftop across from them stood Red Hood wielding a pistol. The Titans looked on in shock.

"Red Hood!" said Robin and Starfire.

Executioner clutched his wounded shoulder and groaned his shocked expression hidden behind his angular steel skull mask.

"Ack…You…it can't be…how did you survive?" Executioner groaned.

"You'd be surprised what I can survive. But you on the other hand…" Red Hood said as he cocked his gun and pointed it at his head.

Executioner's eyes widened in shock as Red Hood pulled the trigger the resounding gun blast filling the night air.

Down on the street level in the ruins of the destroyed building a black gloved hand could be seen reaching out from under the mountain of debris as Deathstroke struggled to the surface. He immerged from the wreckage still waste deep in rubble and broken boards. Deathstroke clutched the side of his helmet and shook his head.

"What was that?" he said to no one.

The Titan removed himself out of the rubble. Shaken but very much alive, all was calm. He figured that Slaughter must have met his end. How he himself survived was uncertain. Slaughter burst out from under a truss. The truss flew over in Slade's direction. The Titan ducked just barely avoiding it. When he looked up he saw his adversary waist deep in rocks and rubble. Slaughter growled ferociously. Breaking free he sprints across the ruins to where Deathstroke was. The mercenary let out a beastly roar and punched him in the face knocking the Titan back. He rolled across the ground. Slaughter picked him up off the ground and savagely beat him. He punched him in the cheek knocking Slade back and grabbed a hold of him again and punched him hard in the chest and stomach. Slaughter punched him again in the cheek splitting his knuckle on Deathstroke's mask. He was propelled to the ground again. Slaughter kicked him in the side. The armored Titan rolled across the ground. Slaughter picked him up off the ground holding him by the collar he punched him again in the cheek and then came back with an elbow to the opposite. He punched Slade a number of times in the chest and stomach and then with two hands he threw Slade as far as he could. Deathstroke landed hard on his shoulder and tumbled across the ground. He gasped for breath trying to get up. Slaughter grabs him by the back of the collar and runs him across the yard to a nearby cement mixer and bashed his head into the side of it. He rammed his forehead into it again before dropping him to the ground. He kicked Slade once again in the stomach.

From the inside of his mask blood began dripping down the front and side of his face. He couldn't take much more of this. Disoriented and unable to defend himself it won't be long till Deathstroke is no more. He had to think of something quick. Slaughter spit on him as he readied for another attack. Slade was running out of time.

Slaughter came up behind him for another kick but was met with a donkey kick to the stomach. He stumbled back a bit giving Slade enough time to get up. He whirled around and punched Slaughter in the face as hard as he could knock him back several steps with arms failing. Slade took the opportunity and rammed him with his shoulder taking the assassin to the ground. With Slade pinning him began pummeling on his face beating him with all his might. Slade found that he was out of energy and couldn't land another punch. It looked as thought Slade had knocked him out. His eyes open and grabbed Deathstroke by the throat. He sat up with Slade in a chokehold the man got to his feet and continued to hold the Titan's windpipe in the palm of his hand as he began to slowly strangle the life out of him. Slade too weak to fight back, tried in vain to release his assailant's grip. Slaughter gritted his teeth contorting his face into a wicked smile slowly killing Slade. A single gunshot ripped through the side of his neck. Slaughter's eyes bulged as he lost his grip on Slade. The two of them fell to the ground. Slade's face flushed as he fought to catch his breath. He turned over on his side coughing as a man walked past him. It was Red Hood.

Slaughter looked up in shock and saw the man he was suppose to kill.

"you...gasp...how...did..you..sur..vive." Slaughter gasped out.

Red Hood stood over him as Slaughter soon fell silent. The Hood turned around to where Deathstroke was still catching his breath. He put away his pistol as he turned to the Titan.

"You ok?" he asked him.

"Yeah...thanks." he choked out.

"Good." Red Hood said as he turned to leave.

The rest of the Titans came running calling out Deathstroke's name. They dropped down around thier comrade. Robin glanced up at the Hood.

"Red Hood." Robin said.

The Hood stopped in his tracks and looked back at Robin out of the corner of his eye.

"Dont get too use to it Robin. I only did this to get back at those two." Red Hood said.

The Titans stood over Deathstroke as they watched him walk away disappearing into the night.

Robin and the others looked back at Slaughter.

"...I dont understand." Robin said.

Hours later, the Titans were at Raven's house in thier civilian form. Raven was administering her healing powers to Slade lessening the worst of his injuries. Sitting at the kitchen table Raven gently wiped the blood away from his brow and side of his head with a damp cloth.

"How you feeling?" she asked him.

"I've been better." he told her.

"Well, you should feel a little better now. You were a mess. I dont know how you walk away from something like that." she said.

"Guess its my hard head and iron will." he said.

Raven chuckled. "Sure, we'll go with that." she said with a hint of laughter.

Slade chuckled along with her as she continued to treat him.

Back in the front room Dick and Kori sat on the couch.

"I should have been there for him." Rich said.

"Richard, there's nothing any of us could have done." Kori told him.

"But he's my best friend Kor."

"I know.

"He's always been there for me. And when he needed me most I couldnt help him." he said.

Kori placed her hand on top of his.

"I know how much you care. You guys have been insepreble for as long as I can remember. Slade's a pretty tough guy. He has to be if he hangs around you." Kori joked.

He smiled and chuckled.

"Yeah, he and I have been through a lot. Remember that time we jumped off the house together and Slade thought he broke his leg?"

"How could I forget? I was about ready to kill the both of you." Kori said.

"Hey at least we used the trampoline that time. That wasnt half as bad as the time I convinced him to snowboard down the stairs at your place." Rich said.

"He broke a table and dislocated his arm because of you!" Kori smacked Rich in the side.

"It popped right back into place!" Rich told her.

Kori shook her head. "Sometimes I think your more dangerous to him than these monsters."

"Hey its not my fault." he said.

"Oh like hell its not." she told him.

Raven finally finished healing up Slade. She dabbed the back of his neck wtih the rag and placed the rag in the sink.

"So who you think were those guys?" Gar asked.

"I dont know but they were animals." Tara said.

"Why do you think they were after Slade?" Vic asked.

"The only person that knows that is getting patched up in the next room." Gar said.

"I know it was between them and Slade. But do you think we should have helped him?" said Tara.

"Yeah, we should have. He was outnumbered and outgunned. We should have been there." Vic said.

"But that doesnt make any difference now. Shoulda, coulda, woulda; those all sound nice but when you get down to it. Those guys wanted Slade and I doubt there's anything we could have done that would have changed the outcome." Gar said.

"Those guys were on a whole nother level. They were mercinaries and out of all of us Slade was the best equipped." Vic said.

"Well, its over now. We all can relax easily." said Gar.

Back at scene where Slaughter and Executioner were taken down. Slaughter's body lay in the center of the construction site. From out of nowhere there was a roll of thunder a current of warm air filled the area. A cloud of red smoke manifested itself with currents of red lightning surrounding it. From out of the cloud stepped Malchior in knight form along with his younger brother Rorek. The field disapatted as they walked out into the opening.

"Disappointing. And I thought they had what it took to take him down." Malchior said.

"What a way to go." Rorek added.

A faint groan came from Slaughter. His breathing was labored and wheezing. The two knights looked down at him suprised that he was alive.

"Well now, perhaps there something to you humans after all." Malchior said.

He walked over to Slaughter and croutched down next to him.

"Hey Rorek go check on that other guy and see if he's still alive." Malchior tells his brother.

"Right." Rorek said.

"Looks like things are about to get a lot more intrestring." Malchior said.

_Author's Note: Looks like things have just gone from bad to worse. Malchior has a tendency of doing that. See what happens in the next X High School. _


	30. Joker's Wild

_Author's Note: All right, this is probably the fastest update I've ever done. I did this chapter in 3 days. I was kind of unsure about it. But thanks to my friend Ali's encouragement. I decided to post it. Hope you enjoy this one. And here we are at a landmark 30th chapter. I've been working on this story for over a year, it feels good to finally make it to #30. And no sign of slowing down yet. Here's the 30th chapter of X High School. "Joker's Wild" enjoy. _

**Chapter 30**

**Joker's Wild**

The next day Rich and Slade were walking through the hallway at school when they met up with Gar and Vic.

"Hey Slade, how you feeling?" Vic asked.

"Doing better." Slade said.

"That's great." said Vic.

"Hey dude, we were going to take the Rumble Cart out for a spin later. You in?" Gar asked him.

"Yeah." said Slade.

"Cool. You know where to meet us." said Vic.

"All right, later dude. I got class now." said Slade.

"Yeah, me too." said Gar.

"Us too." said Vic and Rich.

About an hour later the school bell ring and school was out. Slade walked down the front stairs of the school and out to his car. He started it up and headed out. A few miles outside of town in the countryside he arrived at a desolate region covered in forest and weeds. There was a large dirt track with hills, much like the racing track at the staduim but on a smaller scale. After waiting a while the guys showed up in a green 1995 Geo Tracker with a roll cage wielded to it. This is the Rumble Cart. It was an old car that the guys bought last summer and turned it into a stunt car. Gar keeps it at his house and they bring it out whenever they get the chance.

Slade smiled when he saw them roll up.

"Its been a long time since I've seen this." said Slade.

"Yeah, Dad kind of had it buried behind all of his junk. Took us a while to dig it out, that's the last time I park in the back of the garage." Gar said.

Slade laughed.

"You guys ready for some sick tricks?" Gar asked.

"Yeah!" they all exclaimed.

"All right, let's bust this baby out." Gar said.

They walked over to the Rumble Cart. Gar climbed into the driver's seat and Slade climbed into the passenger's seat. Rich and Vic got in the back. The tires spin kicking up dirt as they take off. They race down the track and jump the first hill the guys whoop and holler as they touchdown and take off again. The Geo races over the next hill and lands roughly on one of its tires before the rest touch the ground. The guys are knocked around in their seats. Lucky for them they have 3 point restraint systems for belts. Gar revs the engine as they come around the next turn, spewing dirt everywhere as they head up the track for another jump. They jump high in the air. The car touches down on its front tires, the bumper digging into the dirt. The rear end of the car stuck in the air before a few seconds before touching back down and taking off again. They come up the next hill unevenly and shoots across at an angle. The car's left rear tire touches down first and flips the Geo over sideways. The guys hung onto the grips as the truck rolled over before landing on its wheels. They sat there for a few seconds as they got over the inital shock.

"Everyone ok?" asked Vic.

"Yeah." went everyone.

Gar put the car in gear and straightened out facing the hill. He punched the gas kicking up dirt as they raced up and over the hill touching back down on solid earth. As they came around the last turn. He floors it as they soar high over the last hill and come down a little softer this time. Coming arounnd the last stretch. He hits the brakes and spins the car several times before coming to a halt. The guys undid thier belts and climbed out of the Geo. Some of them fell to the ground. The guys were all laughing from the experience.

"That was great!" Richard said down on his hands and knees.

"I know." Gar said who was also on the ground.

"Whoo!" Slade leaned against the side of the Geo.

"We have _got_ to do this more often." Vic said.

While the guys were out messing around with the Rumble Cart. Back in town an old threat had arisen. There was an explosion and the trademark manical laughter of a forgotten foe filled the night air.

"Ah hahahahahahahahaha!"

The alarm went off in the Batcave. Batman walked up to the computer as Police Commissioner Gordan's image came on screen.

"Batman, Joker has escaped." The Commissioner said.

"Where is he now?" Batman asked.

"The Joker and his men are downtown. Thier armed and dangerous." Gordon told him.

"On my way." Batman said.

"Be careful Batman. This time he's out for blood." Commissioner Gordon told him.

The Dark Knight nodded and turned to leave. "I'll be fine."

Downtown San Antholas, Joker and his men are reaking havoc on the city. Firing machine guns in the air with innocent civilains running for cover. Some people trip and are trampled. Joker's laughter can be heard over the gunfire. The Batmobile comes flying over a large hill and races down into the city. Joker's men see the Batmobile and open fire. The Dark Knight hits a button and the Batmobile switches to armor mode with bullets richocheting off the ebony armor. A startled look washed across thier faces with the Batmobile barreling towards them. The gang starts to run, the Batmobile skids to a hault and Batman ejects from the vehicle as he soars 15 feet in the air. The gangsters look him and see him decending upon them.

"Kill him you fools!" Joker yelled.

They opened fire on him with incredibly bad aim. He threw a handful of batarangs at them disarming some of the crooks. He pounced on the villains and took down several of them at once. Joker's henchmen collapased in a heap with Joker already making a premature getaway.

"Harley now!" he yelled.

The Batman looked up and saw Harley Quinn emerge from a convertable with a shoulder mounted rocket launcher she fired at him the Dark Knight's eyes widened in shock. A large explosion consumed the street corner. Miraculously Batman escaped at the last second pulling the unconcious henchmen to saftey. Joker's really lost it, he has no regard for anyone's saftey. Not even his own men. Batman has to end this quickly before anyone else is killed.

"Rats! How could you miss him?!" Joker yelled at Harley.

Harley looked back at Joker with a look of shock on her face.

"He just moved!" she said.

"I dont care how many people you have to kill! I want his carcus blown from here to Kingdom Come, got it?!" He yelled.

"Yes sir!" she said.

Batman ran toward Harley she fired another grenade at him. He fired his grappeling gun and sailed through the air the grenade hit the ground and produced a large explosion behind him. She followed him through the crosshairs. Little did she know he had landed right in front of the where the Joker was standing on the rooftop. Harley aimed right at him.

"Hey wait a minute!!!" he yelled.

Harley fired the rocket without knowing she was aiming at him. Batman jumps off the roof with the missile headed right towards the Joker. The Joker screams He jumps off the side just before the rocket hit blowing apart the empty building.

"Oh my god! Mr. J!" Harley screamed.

She couldnt believe what she had done. The Joker emerged from the pile of rubble, shaken but very much alive. Joker coughed up a plume of smoke.

"Hey Harl, watch where your shooting next time." Joker said.

Batman grabs him by the collar and pulls him up to eye level.

"Oh sure, go and ruin my fun." Joker said to him.

"Show's over Joker." Batman said.

A mysterous figure appeared in the dark allyway wielding a gun. He shot Batman in the back, the Dark Knight collapased to his knees. Joker took the opportunity and kicked him in the face knocking him on his back.

"On the contrary Batsy, the show has just begun. Nah hahahahaha." Joker laughed.

The man that shot him stepped out of the shadows, it was none other than Two Face himself.

"Thanks for the assist Two Face!" Joker saluted him.

"Not a problem, let's take him away." Two Face said.

"You read my mind." Joker said.

Batman let out a low groan as he drifted in and out of conciousness until he finally blacked out. Commissioner Gordon looked on in shock. He and the other police officers opened fire on them. Two Face and Joker quickly picked up Batman's unconcious body while Harley Quinn covered them fireing another rocket at them. The police men scatter as the missile drops blowing up a car. They loaded him into the back of a van and speeded off. Cops ran to thier patrol cars and took off after them with sirens wailing. They lead them on a chase through the city.

Jim took out his Bat-com and began dialing. Several miles away, Rich's communicator went off. First he reached for his cell phone out of habit but then realized it wasnt ringing.

"That's my communicator!" he thought to himself and quickly replaced it with his Bat-Com.

"Yeah." he said out loud.

"Robin, Batman has been kidnapped." Commissioner Gordon.

"What?!" Rich said in shock.

Slade, Vic and Gar look up at him.

"We're in prusuit of the Joker and Two Face headed Northeast on Interstate 267 in need of assistance." Gordon said.

"On my way." He told him.

"Roger. We're coming across Exit 211, 2 miles outside of town." Gordon told him.

"I'll be right there. Robin out." Rich said.

He looked up at his friends "I need to borrow your car."

Slade nodded understandingly.

"Sure, take it." tossing him the keys.

"I'll bring it right back." Rich told him.

"Just go." Slade told him.

"All right, thanks." Rich said as he made a break for Slade's car. He jumped and flipped in the air transforming into Robin. He starts up the car and takes off.

A few minutes later Robin is on the other side of town driving over 120 mph as he attempts to rendevous with the police chase which is still several miles away. He races through town flying past cars on the interstate left and right until finally he sees them. A slew of police cars are right infront of him with red and blue lights flashing. He flies past them on the the farthest left lane on the interstate catching up to the getaway van with Batman and the Joker and Two Face inside. Commissioner Gordon looks to his left and sees Robin in the black Mercedes. The Teen Wonder pulls up next to the speeding van. The driver opens fire, Robin hits the brakes and drops back dodging the bullets nearly causing a wreck with one of the squad cars behind him. He then speeds up, passes the van. Robin hits the brakes again turning the car sideways as he throws a birdarang out the passenger window. The birdarang sails through the windshield and strikes the driver's shoulder causing him to lose control of the van. The van spun out of control and did a nosedive into a ditch at the end of a bridge. The chase was over. Robin opened the back door of the van to find that it was...empty. A brigade of officers stood in shock.

Back in the city in an underground lab. Joker had Batman bound in shackles to a wall, the Dark Knight was unconcious. Back at the interstate, Robin was talking to Alfred through his communicator.

"Alfred, do you have a fix on his position?"

"No, I dont sir. I'm sorry."

Alfred was at the supercomputer in the Batcave sweeping the entire city for his signal but so far nothing came up. A worried look painted on his face. He stroked his chin as he tried to figure out where he was.

"Keep looking for him." Robin told him.

"I shall do my best sir." Alfred said.

Robin pressed another button on his communicator. "Barbara come in."

"I read you Dick."

"Did you hear?" He asked.

"Yeah, hard to miss its all over the news." she said.

"I was afraid of that." Robin says.

"Dont worry Dick, we'll find him." Barbara told him.

"I sure hope so Babs." he said.

All across town the news spread like wildfire.

In her bedroom Kori watched in shock at the news that Batman was missing.

"This is Katie Couric with breaking news. The Batman remains missing, after Robin and the San Antholas Police take down a getaway van that was believe to have held Batman. Only to discover the van empty. At this moment it is unknown whether Batman is alive or dead. Stayed tuned to Action 10 News, KTHI for the latest updates." the newscaster said.

Kori cupped her mouth in shock. Picking up her cellphone she immediatly called Robin.

"Alfred?" Robin said.

"No its Kori." she said.

"Oh sorry, I was just talking with him." He said.

"Why?" she asked.

"Uh, nothing never mind." he said.

"I just saw on the news that Batman was missing. Do you know where he is?" she asked.

"Still looking for him, nothing yet." he said.

Kori was silent for a moment when she decided to speak.

"Richard?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think he's all right?"

"I wouldnt worry about him Star. Its not the first time this has happened and it definatly wont be the last. He's resourceful. If anybody can take care of himself its him." He reassured her.

Kori smiled. "I sure hope so. Do you need any help?" she asked.

"I'll take all the help I can get." he said.

Kori opened her closet door. "I'll see if I can locate him from the air while you cover the ground." she said.

"Good. Try and contact the others if you can." Robin said over her cellphone.

"I will. And Rich, be careful." she said.

" I will. I'll see you later." Robin said. He hung up and tossed the phone in the seat as he sped through town in search of Batman.

Kori stood there holding the phone in her hands staring down at it. He did it again, he hung up on her. Course, she cant say that she blames him. She put the phone down and pressed a button inside the wall. The secret door opens revealing her Starfire costume. As she reached for her costume she heard her little brother's voice.

"Kori?" he said.

She quickly closed the secret door and poked her head out of the closet.

"What is it Ryan?" she asked.

Her brother had the most forlorn look on his face. She couldnt help but notice.

"They said on the news that Batman was captured by Joker and Two Face. Is he going to be ok?" he asked sounding geniunely worried.

Kori sat down on her bed and invited him over.

"Oh I'm sure he will be. I mean he's been in some pretty tight messes before but he's always found a way out." she said.

Ryan had always been a fan of Batman and it troubled him to hear that his hero is missing.

"Besides Robin and the rest of the police are out looking for him." she said trying to consol him.

"Will they find him in time?" he asked.

"I hope so Ryan, I really hope so." she said stroking his red hair.

Back in town Robin was racing through town in Slade's car when Alfred's voice came over the frequency.

"Master Dick, I've found Master Bruce." he said over the communicator.

"Good job Alfred." Robin told him.

"He's in the warehouse district, southeast sector Building 39." Alfred told him.

"Take me there." Robin said.

"Sending coordinates." Alfred replied.

There was a beep on Robin's comlink as the coordinates appeared on the tiny screen. Robin floored it as he raced to the other side of town. At the warehouse Joker had set Batman's communicator down after sending out the distress call.

"He's on his way." Joker said.

"Excellent, like killing two birds with one stone." Two Face said.

"And our little bird's going to give Robin a fight to remember." Joker added.

At that moment a young man walks in out of the shadows wearing a black jumpsuit with a red bird symbol on his chest and back with red stripes going down each arm and metal arm bands and leg bands. He had short black hair and a red domino mask in a cresent "M" shape.

The young man crossed his arms. "He wont know what hit him." he said.

There was an explosion in the background they turned to see the large garage door crash to the ground and Robin standing at the treshold.

"Wanna bet?" Robin said.

_Author's Note: All right so there we are. The Joker's back and he's kidnapped Batman. But now does Robin have what it takes to fight this new enemy? Find out on the next X High School. _

_Also, if there are any spelling or grammer mistakes. I appologise for those, I can only use Microsoft Wordpad for now. Sorry. _

_Review!!!_


	31. The Joker's Robin

Chapter 31

"The Joker's Robin"

Robin stood at the threshold of the warehouse where they were holding Batman hostage. He charged Joker and Two Face running at full burst and jumps high in the air with a flying kick. But the costumed apprentice jumped inbetween them and blocked Robin's kick in mid-air.

"Sorry but if you want them your going to have to get past me!" He throws Robin back. The Titan flipped backwards and landed on his feet.

"Who are you?" Robin demanded.

"The name's Blood Falcon, your equal." he said.

"Equal?"

"I'm like you only better. Think of me as the Joker's Robin." he said.

"We'll see about that." Robin said.

The Titan charges Blood Falcon and jumps high in the air for another attack. Blood Falcon was ready for him.

All across town eyes were glued to the TV set with the newest revelation about the fate of Batman.

"This is Action 10 News KTHI with late breaking news. The Batman has been found in a warehouse on the Southeast side where Robin is now fighting for the Dark Knight's freedom. We will bring you more as this story develops." said Katie.

"Hiyah!" Robin yelled as he threw a fist at Blood Falcon.

Falcon blocked his attack with his palm and threw his own punch and connected. Hitting him in the cheek. Robin staggered back. Blood Falconept and kicked him in the chest knocking him to the ground. He grabbed Robin by the cape and picked him up off the ground.

"Get up, I'm not through with you yet." He told him.

Robin swung his arm at him. Falcon grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back. Robin groaned in pain as Blood Falcon brought him up to knees and threw him across the room. He landed face first. He felt his shoulder crack as he got to his feet. Bloodhawk took two steps forward.

"Is that the best you got?" he taunted.

"Not even close." Robin said as he took out an explosion disk.

He turned around and threw the disk at him. Blood Falcon jumps over it as the disk sails under him and explodes in the background.

"Sorry kid, but your going to have to try a lot harder than that." he said in an insideous voice.

He takes out a shiriken that flips over into a bird shape He throws the shiriken at Robin. He threw his own and intercepts it. The two birdarangs shatter in midair. Blood Falcon jumps in ready to swing at him. Robin blocks the attack and headbutts him. While he disoriented, Robin spun and kicked him in the head knocking him to the ground. Falcon cradled his head as he struggled to get up.

"Not bad kid. That's better than what I expected." He said.

"Still think you can take me on?"

"Without a doubt." Blood Falcon said.

At that same time a trio of razor tipped, crecent blades emerged from his left guantlet he attacked Robin. The Boy Wonder jumped back. He slashed at him with both guantlets. Robin did a backflip to avoid them. Another pair appeared on the back of his leg bands. When Robin landed on his feet Falcon does a spinning kick, just missing his chest. He slashes at him again with his guantlet Robin drew his staff and blocked the attack. Blood Falcon tried to overpower him but Robin holds his ground. He throws in a jab to the stomach with his free hand throwing him off balance he slashes at him repeatedly with his blade guantlets but Robin narrowly misses them. Robin blocks them with his staff again, he kicks Blood Falcon in the side and once again. Robin spins and bashes him across the face with his staff and hits him again in the opposing side and kicks him hard in the jaw sending Blood Falcon across the room landing flat on his back. He clutched his face and rithed in pain.

"Damn kid, I gotta hand it to you your pretty good." he said.

At that exact moment Robin could guns clicking. He looked up and could see scores of henchmen lineing the rafters of the warehouse.

"But not good enough." Falcon added.

He charged Robin with his own staff in hand and struck. Thier weapons clashed. Falcon had the upperhand he was pushing Robin back with each swing of his titanium staff. All Robin could do was block his attacks as best he could, his adversary relentlessly attacks Robin. Though his attacks seem wild and rampant he strikes with frightening accuracy. Robin can feel the vibrations of his rod pulsating through his body. Falcon takes his staff and swings crossways at Robin's head. The Titan dodges the attack. Falcon energizes his staff, electrical energy flows through it. He takes a diagonal swing and struck Robin electrocuting him. The Boy Wonder cried out as he stumbled. Falcon swings and shocks him again. Robin staggered in a circle nearly collapasing to the ground. The Falcon chuckles as he taps his staff against the palm of his hand.

"What's wrong Robin, I thought you were tougher than that." he taunts.

The Falcon jams the edge of the electrical staff into Robin's side. He groans as the current went through him. Falcon twirls the staff and then slams it into Robin's back. He screams in pain. The Joker smiled insideously at the Boy Wonder's plight.

"Let him go!" Batman yells.

"Dont worry Batsy, you'll be joining him soon enough. Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Joker laughed.

Filled with rage Batman strains against the shackles attempting to break free. The Joker just looks back and smiles. He loved seeing Batman like this: powerless. Made to watch his students suffer. Blood Falcon smirked as he watched Robin try to get up. He laughed as he raised his electric staff above his head to deliver the final blow when from out of nowhere he was struck in the chest by a green energy blast. The force of the explosion sent him flying, he lands hard on his back and slides across the floor crashing into a stack of crates.

"What the hey?!" Joker said in alarm.

Blood Falcon tried to get out from under the broken crates when an underground explosion send him flying straight up. The pillar of dirt that carries him changes into an arm and grabs ahold of him. Blood Falcon screamed as the giant earthen hand threw him across the rafters and comes crashing down to solid ground. Robin turned around to see Terra, Starfire, Beast Boy, Stone, Deathstroke and Raven standing at the entrance of the warehouse.

"You didnt think you'd start this party without inviting us did you?" said Beast Boy.

"And just who are you?" Joker asked.

"Your worst nightmare." said Stone.

The men in the rafters cocked and pointed thier guns down at the team.

"Teen Titans go!" yelled Stone.

The armed men opened fire on them. The Titans charged in dodging thier fire. Starfire flew up towards them, bullets richochet off her armor as she fired an energy blast at a small group taking out part of the catwalk with men screaming. She flew in and punched another guy that was still standing and began her battle with them. Terra summoned a pillar of stone and slid up to where another group of armed men were. She summoned a bunch of small rocks that blocked some of the gunfire and then sent the rocks flying at them taking out several men. Terra then proceeded to take out part of the catwalk with the rock pillar she was riding on.

The henchmen continued fireing at the Titans with Deathstroke, Stone and Beast Boy still on the floor level. The bullets richochet wildly as they powered on through. Stone gave Beast Boy a lift and he changed into a bird in midair. Beast Boy flew up to the top dodging the bullets. He changed into a pteradactyl and knocked most of the men out of a rafter he then flew down changing into a small bird again before changing into a raptor on the catwalk and chased the men, snarling and bareing his teeth. Back on the ground Deathstroke took out an automatic assult rifle and opened fire on some of the men on an opposing catwalk. Several of the men were hit by Slade's gunfire and collapased against the wall or fell to their doom.

Meanwhile Blood Falcon was trying to get up off the ground, Robin slowly walked over to him. Grabbing him by the shoulder and spinning him around.

"Remember me?" he punched Falcon in the cheek.

The Dark Titan staggered, Robin grabbed and punched him again and sent stumbling backwards into some crates. He was leaning heavily against them Robin grabbed him by the shoulder and socked him again the Falcon tumbled to the floor. He clearly didnt stand a chance against Robin. He wiped the blood from his nose and grabbed his non-electric staff.

"All right kid, you want to dance. Let's dance." he said.

Falcon jumped to his feet and attacked Robin. The Boy Wonder quickly drew his own staff and blocked his attack. Falcon swung his weapon again and Robin blocked it. Robin swung his staff crossways Falcon ducked and tumbled swinging his staff at Robin's leg. Robin blocked it with the edge of his staff he spun and kicked at Falcon. Blood Falcon dodged it and rolled across the ground, getting to his feet he held his staff above his head and attacked. Robin blocked it once more and swung his own weapon. Falcon dodged it once agian. He did his own spinning kick. Robin leaned back but not far enough as Falcon connected and sent Robin spinning to the ground. He quickly got up facing the other direction and rammed Falcon in the stomach with his staff. The Falcon retreated back a few steps. Still on one knee Robin spun his staff and spun around with his weapon and then with a high flying spinning kick. he missed Falcon's chin as he came back down to earth and sweeped his staff across the ground knocking Falcon off his feet. Falcon did a backflip landing back on his feet. He charged Robin with his staff in hand. And rammed the edge of his staff into Robin's chest. Robin ducked it and countered with his staff. The two of them exchanged blows with lighting quick strikes with the alernating ends of each other's weapons. Robin jumped bringing his staff straight down breaking Falcon's staff in half. Robin gave him a right hook and then a left and then a punch to the stomach and did a backflip kicking him in the jaw and sent him flying. Blood Falcon flew for several yards and landed hard on his back.

"And stay down." said Robin.

Two-Face had sent in more of his men to attack, after Joker's men were defeated. Two-Face's men wore suits and masks there half red, half black. They came in wielding machine guns and firing off rounds. Stone and Beast Boy charged the men head on. Bullets richocheted off Stone's body as he punched a man out, and blindsided another one with his other arm. Beast Boy changed into a tiger and pounced on a man, mauling his arm. Starfire flew firing off a blast of energy. Plowing several of Two-Face's men out of the way. She flew in and punched another man and sent him flying up to the catwalk, crashing into the wall. Raven sent out a wave of dark energy. That sent the men into confusion and had them shooting at each other. She created a vortex out of the dark energy with the men screaming inside, releasing them from the vortex and sent them plummeting. In the wake of the chaos, Batman used the opportunity to free himself. With a flick of the wrist a lock pick appeared from the tip of his index finger. Joker and Two-Face were starting to get worried, it wasnt looking good for them and it was about to get worse. When Joker turned around he realized too late that the Dark Knight was standing right in front of him. He nailed him right in the cheek and sent Joker right off the platform and too the ground. Two-Face was ready for him. The two exchanged blows each getting in a fair shot, before Batman kicked him in the chest and sent him to the ground as well.

By this time Robin had joined the fight with what remained of Two-Face's men. As one charged him, he threw a spinning kick and sent the man to his knees and then to the ground. There were still plenty of bad guys to go. Three guys tried to take on Terra all on thier own. But she proved to be more of a challenge than they thought. One of the men threw a punch, Terra ducked back. He threw another one Terra blocked it and kneed him in the stomach. The man doubled over in pain, Terra punched him in the face as hard as she could knocking him flat on his back. The two other men charged her. Terra's eyes glowed yellow as she ripped two large chunks of rock, as big as they were out of the ground and sent him hurtling towards them.

"Terra you all right?" said Beast Boy.

"Yeah I'm fine Beast Boy. We still got a ways to go." she told him.

The Titans regrouped along with Batman. Joker and Two-Face were back on their feet .

"Its seems as though our little plan hit a snag, but we'll be back Batman count on it!" Joker said.

"Your not going anywhere." Batman told them.

"On the contary Bats, its you that's not going anywhere." Two Face said holding out a device.

He detonated the device setting off bombs throughout the warehouse. The Titans and Batman staggered around as the blasts went off. Batman and Robin tried to catch them but were too late. With the building collapsing in on itself.

"Raven get us out of here!" Robin yelled.

The Dark Titan raised her arms as the floor was swallowed in darkness. A black sphere covered the Titans and Batman and transported them out of the collapasing structure. They stood on a hillside away from the burning wreckage. Robin, Raven and Batman's capes blew in the wind as they looked down at the scene that took place earlier.

"How's your back?" Robin asked.

"They just stunned me, that's all." The Dark Knight replied.

"Dude I cannot believe that we just saved Batman!!!" Beast Boy cried.

The Dark Knight looked down at the green changeling.

"Can I have your autograph?" he asked holding up small book.

"You actually carried that thing with you?" said Stone.

"Well, yeah." Beast Boy said.

Robin covered his eyes and shook his head in disbelief.

"Uh, sure." Batman said.

"Awesome!" Beast Boy yelled joyously.

Raven pulled at the tip of her hood and looked away. Batman sighed Beast Boy's autograph book and gave it back to him. The green teen recieved the book back with the biggest grin on his face.

"Your unbelievable." Raven said.

"Your just mad because you didnt get one." Beast Boy said.

"Yeah right." said Raven.

"Can I get one too?" asked Terra.

"Ugh." Raven groaned.

"I guess I'll get one too, uh you know for my cousin." said Stone.

"Right." said Batman.


	32. Gone Campin'

_Author's Note: All right, a special gift to all my readers. One lighting fast update done 1 day after the last chapter was posted. I'm headed to St. Louis in the morning and I wanted to get this out of the way. So anyway, I've been wanting to do this chapter for a while and I had fun doing this. I hope everyone else enjoys this. Here's the 32nd Chapter of X High School to all my loyal readers "The Camping Trip" enjoy everyone! _

Chapter 32

"The Camping Trip"

It was the weekend a few days later. It had been three days since their fight with the Joker and Two-Face. The gang had all gathered at Gar's house, with a black GMC Suburban that Rich brought over from his house. They were busy filling up the Surburban. Tossing in several assorted colorful backpacks and other camping gear. After everything that had gone on the past couple of days, the guys decided it was time to get away from the city and take some time off. Being ambushed and having to fight bad guys right and left can take its toll on young heroes. That's why they decided to take a camping trip at the last minute. Rich and Slade called the others and they were all for it.

"You know we've really been through a lot the last couple days." Gar said as he picked up a bag to put it in the back seat of the SUV.

"Yeah, especially Slade." said Rich as he handed him a red overstuffed bag.

"You know its kind of a good thing we didnt power down in front of Batman the other night." said Gar as he took the bag and placed it in the back.

"Yeah, dont take it personal. But I dont think Batman would have been ready for that. He has this thing about trust." Rich said as he tightened the straps on another bag.

"So what's it like working with him?" Gar asked him.

Rich handed him the next bag. Gar stuffed it in the back of the already full SUV. Rich paused for a second before he answered.

"Its has its ups and downs." He told him.

"Yeah I get ya. Do you think we have enough stuff?" Gar asked.

The two of them looked at the overcrowded back seat of the Surburban.

"We should probably leave some room for the girls to ride in. Where'd you put the grill?" Rich asked.

"Um, its somewhere. Did I even put it back there?" Gar wondered to himself.

The two of them walked over to the back of the SUV and opened the back doors where there was nothing but a wall of colored bags.

"Do you see anything that looks like a grill in there?" Gar asked him.

Rich shook his head no.

"You wanna climb in there and find out?" he asked.

"Hell no. Do you know how hard it was getting everything in there?" Gar told him.

"Oh wait here it is. Its still sitting next to the trailer. Are we taking the Rumble Cart?" Rich asked.

"You better believe it dude." said Gar.

"Did you guys overload the 'burban all ready?" Slade asked.

"Uh, no/yes." they said in unison.

"You guys." Slade said pinching the bridge of his nose.

Rich and Gar each stood there with thier own hand behind their head. Slade sighed.

"All right, maybe if we take some of them out and put them on the roof they'll be enough room for everyone. Unless you want to ride in the Rumble Cart." Slade said.

"Careful dude, we packed them in there real tight." Gar told him.

"I'll just take out the ones on top." Slade replied.

He then proceeded to pull on the strap of a pink bag and prod it out of its place. When a blue bag started to slip out of place.

"Dude, watch it your going to dump them!" said Gar.

"Ahhh!"

BA-DOOM-THUD!

Before he knew it a mountain of bags had fallen on top of Slade.

"You all right?" Rich asked.

"Get this stuff off of me!" Slade yelled.

On the front porch sat Raven with part of her face covered, with Kori and Tara sitting along side her.

"Sometimes I cant believe I know those guys." Raven said.

"They have their moments." said Tara.

"Yeah." Kori said.

"What are those guys up to now?" Vic asked walking up to them.

Rich and Gar helped pick Slade off the ground.

"Told you to be careful dude." Gar said.

A while later they had some of the bags tied to the roof of the SUV with the rest in the cargo hold.

"All right, so where are we going to put the grill?" Rich asked.

"We can put it in the Geo." said Gar.

"You think it'll be all right in there?" asked Slade.

The Rumble Cart was sitting on the trailer in the driveway. The guys debated this for a minute when Vic finally said.

"Put it in the back of the Suburban."

Rich and Slade picked up the grill and carried it over. Gar opened the doors for them and they placed the grill in the back of the SUV.

"All right so are we ready to go?" Vic asked.

"Yeah!" everyone said.

"Then let's move out!" said Vic.

Rich and Vic got into the front, with Vic driving. Slade and Gar got into the second row seats and the girls got into the back seat. Shutting the doors Vic started up the Suburban and pulled out of Gar's driveway with the Rumble Cart in tow.

They arrived at the campsite a while later. Driving down the tall curvy hill, they made it to their campsite at California State Park. They got out of the SUV and started unloading. They undid the straps, Rich climbed into the Rumble Cart and backed it off the trailer while the guys got busy unloading the Suburban. A while later they had thier bags unpacked and began to set up camp. Naturally, the guys would have some trouble setting up the tent. Vic was giving them the instructions, while Slade, Rich and Gar were trying to figure out how to put it together. About a half hour later they finally got the first tent up. It was a blue king sized tent with a red flag on top. Big enough for four.

"Great, now for the other one." Vic said. The guys groaned.

Well needless to say the guys had an easier time setting up the girls tent, now that the hard part was done. A while later both tents were sit up. The guys were relaxing in thier lounge chairs around the would be campfire. When Vic came up to them asking if they would help get some firewood. The guys looked up at him in annoyance.

"Hey man, we just put up the tents how about a little break?" Gar asked.

"We'll find the firewood. You guys rest for a bit." Kori told them. Tara and Raven followed the red headed teen.

"Thanks Kori." Vic said. "Well at least somebody willing to help out." he scolded the guys as he walked away.

"Well at least somebody's willing to help out. I didnt see him setting up a tent." Gar mocked.

The guys reclined back in thier chairs and cracked open a few beers. The girls and Vic came back a while later with the firewood and piled it on top of the campfire plot. Slade sat down his beer next to him and took out his Zippo lighter. He lit a stick on fire and placed it among the logs and branches as soon as the others caught fire he lit up another branch and stuck it down in there and before long they had a fire buring. He reclined back in his chair and took another sip of beer. The girls sat down next to the guys and took a couple of sodas from the cooler.

"Thanks guys." Slade told the girls.

"No problem." Kori replied.

Raven got her guitar from out of the SUV, while Vic fired up the grill cooking up hot dogs and burgers. As Raven played, the guys finished up their beers and got up and stretched thier legs a bit. A few minutes later burgers and dogs were ready. Raven continued playing her guitar while the guys got up and got thier food. The girls went up after them and Slade brought back Raven a burger and dog.

"Thanks." she said.

"No problem." he told her.

For the rest of the evening, it was relatively peaceful. Afterwards Richard and Kori went for a walk along the river's edge.

"Its pretty nice out here." Kori said

"Yeah it is." Rich said.

"Its so nice to get away from everything for once." Kori told him.

"After everything we've been through, we deserve a break." Rich said.

"Yeah." she said.

They continued walking along side the river's shore. They joined hands as they walked along the grassy edge next to the river. She looked up and smiled at him and he smiled back, rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb. They came to a drop off. Rich jumped down, he turned around and put his hands on Kori's waist and helped her down.

"Thanks." she said.

"No problem." he smiled taking her hand they continued on their way.

Meanwhile back at the camp ground Gar and Slade came across a package of party balloons.

"Balloons? What are those for?" Slade asked.

"You'll see." smiled Gar.

Kori and Richard were walking up the trail arm in arm. Kori rested her head on his shoulder. Gar and Vic took the balloons out of the package and began filling them up at the water spout. Kori and Richard walked up a hill by the woods, they stopped at the bottom of the hill and leaned against a tree together. They smiled at each other, with Kori leaning against the tree. Rich looked her up and down and smiled, she smiled back. They pressed thier lips against each other and shared a passionate kiss.

"I love you." said Kori.

"I love you too." said Rich.

Kori rested her head on his chest as he stroked her hair.

"We need to have more moments like this." she said.

"Yeah, its been pretty crazy lately." he said.

"There's the understatement of the year. Your a motocross racer, mercinaries and demonic knights are out to kill us and our friend's brother is a demon lord out to enslave the universe." Kori said.

"Just another day, right?" Rich joked.

Kori chuckled. "It is for us." she said.

"Come on we should be getting back." Rich said.

"Yeah." she took his hand and they walked up the steep hill.

As they made thier way up the hill, a suprise was waiting for them at the top. When they finally made it to the top they were ambushed with water balloons. Caught by surprise the guys quickly tried to get away from them, running along side the trees. While the guys continued to throw water balloons. Kori fired a starbolt at one of them and burst the balloon Gar was holding soaking him. She continued shooting starbolts at them as they started to run.

Kori and Rich ran up to a large basket that was full of water balloons and started hurling them at the guys. Raven and Tara joined in on the fun. Kori chased after Gar hitting him in the back of the head with a water balloon before he turned around and started chasing her. Rich was chasing Vic with a water balloon in hand and him in the back, Vic spun around skidding in the grass and chased after him hitting him with a couple of balloons. Rich ducked behind Raven who took a hit in the chest from Vic. She gave him a dirty look before chasing him and hitting him with several balloons in the chest and back. Slade was chasing after Tara, she ran around ducking between her friends. Slade jumped in the air and tossed a balloon hitting her in the back. Gar hit Slade in the side of the face with a balloon in retailiation. Gar then took a hit from Rich, Kori and Vic. Tara came up and hit Kori with a water balloon in the chest, Kori screamed as it doused her with everyone laughing.

A while later everyone sat around the campfire drying themselves off by the fire. Kori went to change into drier clothes and came back later. Some of the others went off to change thier clothes as well. After a while the guys whipped up s'mores and rosted them over the fire. Raven had resumed playing her guitar as everyone sat around eating s'mores. Kori sat down next to Rich on a log.

Later that night, after the others went to bed. Rich and Kori sat out underneath the stars. The two layed on their backs as they looked up at the night sky.

"Its beautiful tonight." she said.

"Yeah it is." he responded.

In the background a radio softly played "We Believe" by Good Charlotte.

"Its been a long time since we had quiet night like this." he said.

"Mmm-hmm." Kori nodded.

_There's a mother crying late tonight_

_Her world has changed she asked God why..._

"Kori...when all of this is over. How would you like to travel with me?" he asked her.

"What do you mean?" she asked sitting up on her elbows.

"Would you like to travel with me and Bruce for the rest of racing season?" he asked again.

_...downtown another day for all the suits and ties_

_Another war to fight_

_There's no reguard for life_

_How do they sleep at night?_

_How can we make things right? _

_Just wanna make this right_

She smiled at Richard. "I'd like that." she said.

"Cool." Richard said.

_We believe _

_We believe_

_We believe_

_We believe_

_We believe _

_We believe _

_In this love_

He wrapped Kori in his arms and pulled her close to him and Kori did the same.

"I love you Kori."

"I love you too Rich."

_We are all the same_

_Human in all our ways and all our pains_

_(So let it be)_

_There's a love that could pour down like rain_

_(Let us see) _

_Let forgiveness wash away the pain_

_(what we need) _

_And no one really knows what they are searching for_

_(We believe) _

_This world is crying for so much more_

"No matter what, we're going to get through this in one piece." Rich said. Kori nodded her head.

"I know we will Rich." She told him.

_We believe_

_We believe_

_We believe_

_We believe_

_We believe_

_We believe_

_In this love_

_(repeat) _

_So this world is too much for you to take _

_Just lay it down and follow me  
I'll be everything you need_

_In everyway_

_We believe_

_We believe_

_We believe_

_We believe_

_We believe_

_We believe_

_In this love_

_We believe_

_In this love_

_We believe_

_In this love_

_We believe_

_In this love_

_We believe_

_In this love_

They stayed like that for several hours eventually falling asleep in each other's arms. Rich woke up a few hours later, he checked his watch it was 2 in the morning. The campfire was still going suprisingly Slade was sitting over by the fire apparently lost in his thoughts. Rich got up careful not to wake Kori and went over to his friend.

"Hey." he said.

Slade snapped back to reality and looked at his friend.

"How long you been sitting there?" Rich asked.

"Not too long, I dont think. Why? What time is it?" Slade asked.

"About 2 am buddy." Rich told him.

"I couldnt sleep thought I'd come out here and clear my head a bit." Slade said. Rich sat down next to him.

"So did you and Kori have fun tonight?" he asked.

"Yeah." Rich said.

"How are things between you and Raven?"

"Couldnt be better." Slade told him.

"That's cool. So what'cha thinking about?" Rich asked him.

Slade looked out at the still burning campfire with a beer in hand. He leaned back on his seat next to the campfire.

"I was thinking about those guys that attacked me the other night." he said.

"Those mercinaries?" Rich asked.

"They said my Dad abandoned them during a mission left them for dead." Slade told him.

"That doesnt sound like your dad I've known him for years. Even though I never saw your old man in action. I know that he was a great field commander." Rich told him.

"Thanks, I know that. Its just...some of what they said still lingers." Slade said. He took out a cigarette and lit it.

"I thought you quit smoking?" Rich said.

"I did, it helps when I'm stressed." Slade told him.

"You cant keep thinking about what those guys said. Thier dead." Rich said.

"Yeah I know." He said taking a puff, he rested his arm on his lap with the coffin nail between his legs.

"Your dad's a good man Slade. He's done a world of service with International Search and Rescue." Rich said.

"Yeah." he said taking another puff of his cigarette.

"Come on man, you know I'm right. If anything he would have done everything in his power to save those two." Rich reassured.

"Yeah your right." Slade said sounding more confident. Rich nodded.

"Put it out of your mind." He told him.

"Yeah." Slade said standing up. Rich got up off the log next to him.

He took one last puff of his cigarette and threw it in the fire. The flames quickly swallowed it.

"Go ahead and get some sleep man, you'll be needing it tomorrow." Rich told.

"Yeah, thanks Rich." said Slade.

"Anytime bro." he said.

_Author's Note: Kind of been neglecting Richard and Kori as a couple for some time so I thought I'd make it up to you guys with this chapter. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. I plan to do the rest of the camping trip in the next chapter, but I'm not for certain. Anyway, my mom's been sick for a while so I was wondering if all my readers could please **pray** for my family. Your thoughts and prayers are appreciated, and I just wanted to say thanks to all my readers for making this story the success it is. Your reviews are very much appreciated, thanks to everyone for thier support. So remember to keep my mom in your prayers. _

_Thanks again everyone!_

_The Green Gallant. _


	33. With a vengence

_Author's Note: Guys, I'm sorry it took so long for me to review. I didnt mean for it to take so long. I just wanted to say, thanks to everyone for all your prayers and concerns. And now here's the long awaited 33rd chapter of X High School. "With a Vengence" enjoy. _

Chapter 33

With a Vengance

A few hours later it was morning, Kori had woken up inside her tent. She sat up on her sleeping bag, looking a little confused. The last thing she remember was sleeping out under the stars next to Richard.

"Bout time you woke up." came Raven's voice.

She turned and looked at her friend who was sitting on the sleeping bag next to her.

"Oh, morning Raven." Kori smiled.

Raven smiled back at her. "If your wondering, Rich and Slade carried you in last night." she told her.

"They did?" Kori asked.

"Let's just say they werent that quiet about it. Slade stepped on my hand." Raven told her.

"Wonder Boy kicked _me_ in the side last night." Tara said from under the covers next to Kori.

"Either way I'm suprised you didnt wake up Kori." Raven said.

Outside the girls heard thunder followed by a sudden downpour.

"Oh no." Kori said.

They heard someone running up to their tent in the rain. "Girls, hurry up and get dressed we're eating out for breakfast!" said Vic.

"Ok!" Raven said.

Vic took off back to his own tent to get out of the rain. A loud crack of thunder pierced the sky causing the girls to jump. They hurried and got dressed inside the tent. A few minutes later the gang ran to the truck that was already running. Once inside, the SUV took off. Everyone was soaked, the gang passed around several towels to dry themselves off.

"What a way to start a camping trip." Gar complained as he dried himself off.

"Tell me about it." said Raven.

"Just be glad we got out of there when we did." Said Rich.

"So where does everyone want to eat?" Vic asked as he drove.

"Got a Burger King around here?" Tara asked.

"There's one on the other side of town. We can go wherever you want." Vic told her.

The guys talked amongst themselves for a minute when Rich spoke up.

"Let's go to Burger King." he said.

"Bad news guys, we're low on gas unless we stop somewhere soon we wont be eating anywhere." Vic informed.

"You just noticed this?" Kori asked.

Vic shook his head.

"Is there any place closer?" Slade asked.

"Looks like we got a Mom & Pop place coming up." Vic said looking ahead.

"And they have gas!" Gar said.

"I guess this place is as good as any. Sorry Tara, maybe next time." Rich said.

"Its ok." said Tara.

They pulled off the side of the road into the Mom and Pop cafe. They ran inside out of the rain. The place looked bigger on the inside. Kind of looked like the front store entrance of Cracker Barrell though not quite as big as the country store/restraunt chain. An older woman approached the group.

"Good morning, how can I serve you?" she asked.

"You guys serve breakfast?" asked Rich.

"Yes, we just opened. Let me take you to your table. Now is this all together?" the old woman asked.

"Yeah." Vic answered.

"All right, come this way please." she said leading them into the dining room.

The old woman led them to a long table in the center of the room with several chairs. They sat down on both sides of the table. The storm carried on hard and heavy as they ordered thier breakfasts. The old woman took their menus and went to fill out thier orders. A low rumble of thunder shook the room.

"So what did you guys plan on doing today?" Vic asked.

"I was gonna do some rock climbing." said Slade.

"Not in this weather." Kori said.

The waitress came back with thier breakfasts. However for the team, things are about to take a turn for the worst. In the depths of the Haunted Mansion, Rorek had made a revelation.

The wizard Rorek was watching the Titans through a magic plasmatic "portal" of sorts. "Intrestring." the wizard said to himself.

"My Lord, I have located those retched teenagers." He informed looking up to his Lord who sat on a throne on a ledge above him.

"And just where are these...Titans?" Ryan asked.

Rorek smiled. "Just a few miles outside the city, eating breakfast."

Ryan rested his elbows on his knees and laced his fingers together. "It has been a while since we dealt with them."

"My Lord, this is the perfect time to strike. I've recently recruited two new associates." Malchior told him.

"The two mercinaries." Ryan replied.

"Yes. They hold a strong grudge with the black suited Titan, called Deathstroke." Malchior replied.

"They proved very formidible with him." Ryan said.

"Yes." Malchior replied.

"Tell me...why did you see fit to have them eliminate Red Hood?" Ryan stood up, Malchior backed down in suprise.

"Wha-what?" he responded.

"You know what I mean." Ryan walked toward Malchior causing him to backstep quickly.

"You hired these two men to eliminate one of my soldiers. Only to have him come back and eliminate them!" Ryan accused him.

Malchior had backed into a rocky wall sweating profusely. The look of terror in his eyes, he was visibly shaking. Rorek looked up at his brother on the ledge taken back by what he heard, then deeply concerned with the fate of his older brother. Ryan held his fierce gaze and then cracked a smile.

"Not bad. You have the makings of a true villain. Red Hood always had a bit of a rebellious streak ever since I resurrected him. You actually did something I was meaning to take care of." Ryan said complimenting him.

Malchior breathed a sigh of relief.

"However...if you ever act on your own again. The consequences will be most severe. I will rip your soul apart and I'll make your brother watch." Ryan threatened the knight.

Malchior's skin turned pale, his heart dropped into his stomach and he himself sunk to the ground.

"Do I make myself clear?" Ryan asked.

Malchior only nodded, he could do little else. The Dark Lord towered over him.

"I want you and Rorek to take those mercinaries to the surface and destroy the Teen Titans." Ryan ordered him.

"Yes sir!" Malchior said.

He disappated into a shadow and vanished before his master's eyes. Ryan turned his gaze down to Rorek, the silver knight made his exit in the same way. Ryan made his way back to his throne with staff in hand and took his seat.

"Its so hard to find good help these days." He said to himself.

A while later the Titans made thier way out of the restaraunt with their stomachs full. As they walked out to the car a blast of energy hit the top of the building, the resulting explosion sent the teenagers to the ground with debris landing on top of them. A broken board fell on top of Slade. The Titans scrambled to thier feet to see who attacked them.

"Hello Titans, long time no see." said the crimson knight.

"Malchior!" Yelled Rich.

"I thought we got rid of you!" said Vic.

"Now, now is that anyway to talk to an old friend?" Malchior taunted.

"Your no friend of ours." Rich told him.

"Hope you dont mind if we crash?" Rorek walked out from behind his brother, arms crossed.

"Rorek." said Raven.

"Remember us?" Slaughter said as he & Executioner walked out from behind Malchior.

"It cant be!" said Slade.

"It is." said Executioner.

"What do you think of my little reunion party?" Malchior asked.

The teens got into fighting stance.

"Let's do this!" said Richard.

"Not so fast, are you sure you want to transform infront of all the people inside?" Malchior asked.

The Titans all looked at each other, Malchior fired an energy blast at them consuming them in the blast.

"Ha!"

Several flashes of colored light could be seen through the smoke as the Titans transformed into thier heroic forms and attacked. Robin drew his sword and took on Malchior as the others charged into battle. Malchior blocked Robin's attack with his shield and drew his sword from it. Thier swords clashed in battle. Stone took on Rorek with fists flying. The silver knight drew his sword and fought the golem. Terra, Raven and Beast Boy took on Executioner while Deathstroke and Starfire fought Slaughter. Raven and Terra used their powers to throw back Executioner. The assassin used his cybernetic cannon.

"Look out!" yelled Beast Boy.

Executioner opened fire on them, Beast Boy pushed Terra out of the way just as the blast hit and sent the three of them flying. Beast Boy and Terra hit the ground hard several yards away. Raven charged the cybernetic assassin with an energy punch. The mercinary easily blocked it and knocked her to the ground. Deathstroke and Starfire were holding thier own against Slaughter. But despite being outnumbered two to one, he proved to be very formidible. Starfire shot an energy blast at close range, Slaugther deflected it with his blade and sent it flying off behind him detonating in the background. Deathstroke drew his sword and took on Slaughter on his own. Being more experienced in fighting them. Thier swords flashed and singed with lightning fast sweeps. They were evenly matched.

"Starfire go help Raven and the others. I can handle this guy!" He told her.

The Titaness nodded and flew over to help the others defeat Executioner. Their going to need all the help they can get. Deathstroke and Slaughter locked swords in combat. At the same time Robin was holding his own against Malchior. The knight blocked the redbird's attacks with his sword and shield, as Robin was beginning to drive him back.

"You've gotten stronger since last time." Malchior said.

"Naturally." Robin said.

They broke apart from their attack and came at each other again. With both hands Robin brought his sword down diagonally at the knight, to which Malchior blocked easily. Robin then swung his sword around and slashed at him in the other direction. The sword deflected off Malchior's armor with a sparks flying. Malchior jumped back and brought his sword straight down on the Boy Wonder. Robin blocked his attack with the flat of his sword and leaned backwards taking Malchior with him. Placing his feet on the knight's chest he propelled Malchior through the air to have him land on his neck and tumble over to his back. The knight quickly got back on his feet and turned around to see Robin coming towards him with a flying kick and knocking him to the ground once again. Rorek slashed at Stone with his sword in a X. Stone grabbed him by the wrist and drove his knee into the knight's stomach before sending him through the air and landing next to his brother chin first. The other Titans weren't having such an easy time with their opponets. Executioner was proving to be much stronger than the Titans had surmised. Even against 4 Titans, the bionic brute was too much.

"How was Slade able to beat this guy?" Raven said.

"He didnt." Executioner said aiming his cannon at her.

At the last second she put up a shield, the laser blast ripped through the shield and sent her flying. Starfire caught the Titan in midair, only to see him fire another energy blast at them and knock them out of the sky. Terra and Beast Boy double team. Beast Boy turned into an elephant and Terra ripped up the earth creating a tidal wave of solid rock behind him. He charged the assassin head-on, Executioner prepaired to fire another blast but Beast Boy wrapped his trunk around his cybernetic arm and pierced him with his tusks. Executioner cried out in pain as the giant wave of dirt washed over them. Beast Boy escaped in the form of an insect and resumed human form.

"Terra, go check on Raven and Starfire!" Beast Boy ordered.

A blast of energy shot straight from the earth and Executioner arose.

"What does it take to beat these guys?!" Beast Boy yelled.

Executioner growled angerly as he took aim and brought his cannon to full power, with Beast Boy stareing right down the barrel.

"Terra, get the others out of here!" Beast Boy told her.

"But what about you?!" she yelled.

"Doesnt matter, get going!" he yelled back.

Reluctant Terra got the unconcious Starfire and Raven to saftey as Beast Boy turned into a brontosarus and Executioner fired a full powered blast hitting him directly in the chest. He bellowed as the beam hit and knocked him back a step then charged forward to attack and stop Executioner. The villain continued firing energy blasts at him, but Beast Boy powered on through taking on the damage as he came closer. The dinosaur roared and swung his mighty neck and sent Executioner soaring through the air and crashed into a tree. The brontosaurus dropped to one knee, he changed back to his human form and fell to the ground. Terra raced over to his side.

"Beast Boy! Beast Boy!" she yelled.

The young Titan dropped down by his side. She gently rolled him onto his back, he sustained some injury.

"Gar, are you all right?" she asked.

Beast Boy groaned but wasnt able to speak.

"Dont worry, I'm going to get you out of here. I'm real proud of you Gar." she told him.

Back in the dark dimension, Ryan watched the battle.

"Your problems are just beginning my dear. The dark lord raised his crystal staff to the sky.

"By the powers of darkness, tear open a rift in time and send my enemies flying through. Send those Titans to a terrible place, where my power reigns over the human race!" Ryan cried out.

Massive streaks of crimson lighting flowed from red crystal on his staff. At the battle field the sky turned to pitch blast and blasts of red lightning enveloped the sky. The forces of good and evil froze as the storm loomed over them.

"What the hell is this?" Stone asked.

"Where did this storm come from?" Robin asked.

"The master has made his move." Malchior said.

A bolt of lightning stuck the ground and they were gone. The Titans screamed as they hurdled through a red and black time stream. The portal opened and they fell to the ground in a dogpile. The guys struggled to get off of each other.

"Freeze! Your under arrest!" someone yelled.

The Titans looked up to see a group of people pointing weapons at them.

"Who are you guys?" said Starfire.

"We're the defenders of this town, we're Titans Tomorrow!" said thier leader.

_Author's Note: Ohh! Plot twist! See how the Teen Titans contend with the mysterous Titans Tomorrow. _

_Review now. _


	34. Titans Tomorrow, Part 1

_Last Time on: X High School. The Titans were attacked by a tagteam between Malchior, Rorek, Slaughter and Executioner. When the Titans had the odds against them, Ryan sent the team into the future, only to fall into the clutches of a mysterous group calling themselves Titans Tomorrow, is this new team friend or foe? See what happens next! _

**Chapter 34**

**"Titans Tomorrow, Part 1" **

The Titans found themselves surrounded by a group of teenagers all of them were pointed various blade weapons at them.

"We're Titans Tomorrow and you guys are under arrest." said their leader.

"Wait, did you say Titans?" Robin said getting up.

"I said freeze!" The leader barked pointing his lance at Robin's chest.

"One more move out of you, and I'll skuer you!" he threatened.

Robin took his threat seriously and stood there with his hands up.

"I dont know who you are, or where you come from. But your in our house now. Who are you people anyway?" The leader asked.

"We're the Teen Titans." Robin answered.

"Lies. The Teen Titans retired years ago." The leader told them.

"Then who are you guys?" Robin asked not backing down from him.

"I am Ghostwing, leader of Titans Tomorrow." he said.

The two teams stood in a darkened field in the middle of the night, when a security light from a nearby fence allowed them to see brief glimpses of each other. Ghostwing noticed the shoulder of Robin's costume and saw the distinct color pattern along with a very familar R symbol. Ghostwing's eyes widened in shock.

"It cant be...where did you get that costume?" he ordered.

"I've worn it all my life." Robin replied.

"Star, give me some light." Ghostwing ordered.

A young girl stepped forward raising her fist to the sky, her hand gave off a soft green light which bathed the two teams in visible light. It was then the Titans Tomorrow got thier first look at who it was. The team gasped in shock, Ghostwing dropped his weapon.

"It cant be. That's the same costume my father wore." Ghostwing said.

The Teen Titans look up at their counterparts in suprise as all eyes were on Robin.

"Oh my god." said one of the Titans Tomorrow members.

The Teen Titans members got up off the ground and looked at the Tomorrow team members.

"Ok, I'm a little wierded out by this. Just who are you guys?" asked Stone.

"Titans Tomorrow, power down." Ghostwing said.

The teens were covered in pillars of light as they regressed to their civilain forms. Thier were six of them, the first teammate stepped forward. He had short black hair and navy blue eyes. The wore wore a black t-shirt and jeans.

"My name's Mike Grayson, the team leader. Codename is Ghostwing." He said.

A girl stepped forward with long red hair and green eyes. The girl wore a blue and purple striped long sleeved belly shirt and a jean shorts and tall black boots.

"I'm his sister Kendra Grayson. Codename, Starblaze." she said.

A black boy stepped forward, he appeared to be the tallest of the group and had really short hair and blue eyes. The boy wore a gray t-shirt and black pants.

"Name's Cooper Stone, codename: Everest." he said.

A young girl stepped forward with long purple hair and wore a black and purple dress to her knees with matching striped socks.

"Rachael Wilson, codename: The Haunter." she said.

A boy stepped forward with short silver hair, the teen wore a black and blue layered shirt and dark blue jeans.

"Grant Wilson, codename: Ravager." he said.

And lastly a tall young man with blonde hair and blue eyes with an athletic build stepped forward. Wearing a yellow t-shirt with a red and white plad shirt tied around his waist and jean shorts.

"And I'm Dustin Logan. Codename: Landslide. And together we defend San Antholas from Ryan and his goons. The next generation of teen superheroes." he said.

"I think I need to sit down." Terra said.

"Your telling me." said Slade.

Mike took a few steps towards them. "I know this is a lot to take in."

"You could say that." said Robin.

"Welcome to 2034." Mike told them.

Robin turned and smiled.

"So your Mike huh?" he said.

"Yeah. Sorry about the hard time we gave you." he said shaking hands with him.

"Its all right, I understand. So why are you called Ghostwing?" Robin asked.

At the same time Kendra walked up to Starfire. The Titan removed her visor and looked down at her daughter. Starfire held her mask by her side.

"Hey." said Kendra.

"Hi." Kori replied.

The two of them looked exactly alike. Kendra was like a younger version of her mother.

"I bet you have a lot of questions for us." Kendra said.

"Mmm-hmm." Kori nodded.

Dustin walked over to Gar and Terra.

"Looks like I'm your kid." he joked.

Beast Boy and Terra smiled at him.

"So let me get this straight, you get all of her genetics?" Beast Boy asked.

"Well, not exactly." Dustin told them.

Cooper walked over to Vic the two examined each other, Cooper made the first move.

"What's up?" he said offering his hand.

"Sup man." Vic took his hand and drew him into a hug.

"I'm Cooper." he introduced.

"Its good to meet you." Vic said giving his son a pat on the back.

Grant and Rachael faced Slade and Raven who were still in thier superhero forms. Grant ran his hand through his silver hair as he tried to find the words to say. Rachael looked at her mother, who pulled down her hood to reveal her face to them. Rachael looked like a younger version of her mother. Their hair were the same color and same length, only Rachael's skin was white instead of gray, the same was true for Grant, who looked like a younger version of his dad. Slade removed his helmet and looked down at his son with his own two eyes. The resemblence between them was uncanny. Just as they were about to speak a ball of energy was launched and exploded in the midst of everyone sending all of them to the ground.

"What now?!" Robin asked.

"We meet again Titans." came an all to familar voice.

"Son of a bitch." Slade cursed, the Titans all got to thier feet to see a cyborg version of Malchior.

"What the hell, we just fought you 5 minutes ago!" Robin yelled.

"Evil never rests." He told them.

It was then, the Teen Titans got a good look at him. He appeared even more metallic than before, like the previous version. This version wore crimson muscle molded armor. The knight carried a sword on the right side of his back that went straight down. He no longer carried his famous badge-shaped dragon shield and his left hand was a giant three prong robotic claw. His armor was sleek, ridig, and clean cut. The left side of his face was made of a silver metal with a red cybernetic eye. He appeared more powerful in this form than ever before. The Titans stood in shock at his new appearance.

"Judas Priest." Beast Boy said.

"Well, well if it isnt the Teen Titans. Its been a long time, funny last time I noticed you guys were adults." Malchior quipped.

The Titans of the past stepped up to the plate alongside thier kids.

"We're ready for you." said Robin.

"And we can take you on anytime and anyplace." said Stone.

"Then I hope you dont mind if I brought in some friends. I'm sure you remember them." Malchior told them.

At that instant rays of light eminanted from the ground and a large group of goblin warriors appeared next to him. The Titans took thier fighting stances.

"You guys ready?" asked Mike. The Teen Titans nodded.

"Always." said Robin.

"Then let's show them how we do it. Titans Tomorrow style." Mike said.

The rest of his team stepped forward, the Titans took out their indivual devices and transformed. Mike pressed on button on his device and was enveloped in a burst of black light. His costume materialized around him. It was a black Nightwing-esk suit with a white bird symbol and a ghostly tail. Pieces of silver armor melded to the suit along his shoulders, arms and legs. A utility belt appeared around his waist. The suit itself appeared to be muscle molded, lastly his domino mask with dark blue high lights covered his eyes.

"Ghostwing!" The leader cried out.

Kendra pressed a button on her device and was enveloped in a purple light. Her costume materialized around her. It was a purple half top with a v-shaped opening in the back and a purple miniskirt and boots stopping at her knees. And had silver arm bands with a blazing star symbol on each arm.

"Starblaze!" she cried out.

A yellow ring appeared around Dustin's middle and expanded enveloping his entire body. His skin color changed from white to green. His ears became long and pointed and his eyes turned from blue to green, but his hair remained blonde. His costume was a yellow sleeveless shirt with a black stripe across the shoulders and a pair of torn blue jeans. Visor like ski goggles with a yellow band appeared around his forehead.

"Landslide!" he said.

Cooper pounded his fists together activating his power rings and was caught in an explosion of blue light. His flesh became stone and maroon metal bands appeared on his wrists and the top of his head rock like spikes resembling hair. he wore dark green pants and was barefoot.

"Everest!" he said.

Grant hit a button on his device and he was covered in a blue and silver light. The Titan was sent airborne flying straight up as a black and silver costume appeared around him with twin bandolins went down his chest in a v-shape, with a utility belt. With armor plating on his shins and forearms. He wore a half black, half blue bandana style mask with red eye lenses and long flowing streams from the back of his mask. The Titan carried with him a military grade assult rifle.

"Ravager!" he said.

And finally Rachael was endowed in an orange and black light. Wearing black leotards with orange highlights much simular to her mother's along with a rich orange cape. The Titaness carried with her a black crossbow.

"The Haunter." she said.

"Not bad. Hope you dont mind if we get a piece of the action." Robin said.

"By all means." Ghostwing told him.

Slade and Kori replaced their masks, the two teams got into fighting stance ready to take on Malchior and his gang.

"Attack!" yelled Malchior.

"Let's do it, to it!" said Ghostwing.

The two teams of Titans charged, the goblin army ran towards them with scythes swinging. They clashed in the middle of the battlefield. Ghostwing and Robin drew thier staffs and blocked the scythes of two goblins, Ghostwing kicked one in the stomach. The monster double over before Ghost smacked him across the face with his staff and sent it to the ground. Using his staff he pole vaulted over it and landed in the midst of another group of goblins. Ghostwing spun his staff deflecting thier weapons, and threw in a powerful kick which sent another one on his back. He threw his staff high in the air to destract them and then single handedly took them down with a series of punches to the chest. Grabbing his staff he swung it around in a circle and knocked the rest of them down. Robin was in the middle of his own little battle with them throwing them a series of powerful kicks which knocked two backwards. Robin kicked another one in the jaw and sent him flying back. Robin then did a handstand and spun doing a breakdance style roundhouse kick taking the rest of the goblins out. The Boy Wonder jumped back on his feet with his staff in hand all of the goblins laying in a heap. Next up was Starblaze, she fired blasts of blue starbolts in rapid succession in all directions taking out several goblins at one. One goblin came up to her and swung his scythe, Starblaze rolled across the goblin's back to the other side and took his legs out from under him with a sweep of her arm. Starblaze took a hold of the scythe and charged it up with her energy and then hurled it at the rest of the goblins resulting in a tremendous explosion.

Starfire flew through the air towards the goblins. Their scythes ignited in flames and shot at the Tamaranian. Starfire dodged the attacks as best she could and blasted at the ones she couldn't dodge. Starfire divebombed the goblins and fired a powerful stream of energy in the midst of them engulfing them in the explosion and destroying them. She turned and fired another blast at a tree and sent it crashing down on top of some other goblins crushing them.

Deathstroke was taking on a band of goblins on his own. He drew his pistols from thier holsters and shot at them in all directions. Several of the goblins came running towards him. Slade's eyes widened in suprise as he tried to holster his guns but they were right on top of him. He tried hitting one in the temple with the butt of his gun but it was no use. He had been overwhelmed by them as they drew thier scythes and were about to struck him down, when another laser blast went above his head and struck one of the goblins in the back of the group. Ravager flipped through the air aiming his assult rifle and opening fire in mid-air taking several of them down at once. He landed next to his father.

"Thanks." said Slade.

"No problem." Grant told him.

Taking out his assult rifle the two of them opened fire on the goblins and took them down with ease. The two Titans charged in with bullets blazing. The goblins scythes were once again aflame and sent their energy towards them. Deathstroke and Ravager both ducked rolling across the ground. The goblins fired at them again. Father and Son shot at them at close range and took them down. They continued to charge them some of the goblins were still active. Ravager swung his rifle at one of them and knocked its scythe back. Ravager spun and kicked it in the chest knocking it to the ground and shooting it. Deathstroke charged another one and rammed his shoulder into its gut knocking the beast back into another one. Deathstroke took aim and fired killing two of them at once. Ravager and Deathstroke high fived each other.

Landslide soared into action on a slab of rock shaped like a board. Several of the goblins charged and jumped high in the air to attack him.

"Not today!" Landslide said.

He fired blasts of yellow energy from his hands and sent the goblins hurtling to earth. Landslide jumped off the rock board and flew down toward the falling goblins, he punched one in the chest and spun in the air sideways and kicked another one in the chest with the back of his heel and sent them crashing to earth. Landslide grabbed two more by thier ankles and threw them to the ground with a crack. A pile of soft sand formed and Landslide landed safely on the ground.

"Who else wants a piece?" he said.

The goblins looked at each other and ran. Landslide imitated a buzzer.

"Eeent! Wrong answer, but thanks for playing!" he said imitaing a gameshow host.

The Titan stetched out his arms towards them, his hands glowing yellow. The earth split open underneath the fleeing goblins and swallowed them whole. Which was followed by a firey explosion.

"Oooh. I told them to stay away from the Mexican. But does anyone listen?" he said.

Stone and Everest both threw a punch at a pair of goblins and sent them flying through the air and crashing into the higher reaches of the trees. A more powerful blue goblin with white hair and black eyes in tattered pants appeared on the scene. Carrying dual sickle weapons in his hands. The two golems looked at each other.

"You up for a challenge?" said Everest.

"Always!" said Stone.

"Let's get him!" said Everest.

The two of them charged the blue goblin. The goblin energized its weapons running between them, he struck both of them at once. The two dropped to one knee and held thier sides. The goblin turned around and laughed, holding his sickles in an "X".

"Its going to take more than that to stop us." said Everest.

"Yeah." said Stone.

The two rose to their feet ready to face him again. The goblin charged up his weapons again.

"You hit him high, I'll hit him low." said Stone.

"Let's do this!" said Everest.

Everest was the first to charge him. The goblin shot energy at him, the blasts were deflected by the golems rock body. Everest jumped high in the air and punched him right in the face. The goblin slid across the ground into the base of a tree. The goblin got to his feet and picked up one of his sickles. He charged Everest and dug his blade into the Titan's forearm, but Everest held his ground. He broke off the blade and grabbed the goblin by the throat and throws him in the air. Stone rips a tree out of the ground as the goblin flew towards him.

"Batter up!" yelled Stone and connected.

The blue goblin flew hundreds of feet before crashing into a rock wall putting a huge hole in it.

"Sorry, I meant hit him long." Stone said.

Beast Boy and Terra took on a group of goblins together. Terra summoned a rock wall and sent it flying toward them. Smashing them against a bunch of trees. Beast Boy took on the form of a tiger and pounced on one of the goblins clawing one in the chest and bitting another's arm. A goblin came up behind Beast Boy and raised his scythe, Beast Boy caught him out of the corner of his eye and changed into a humming bird as the blade came down on him. Terra threw a large rock at him throwing him off balance. Beast Boy changed into a donkey and kicked it. Beast Boy midmorphed into a human/dino hybird with a large tail and took them down resuming human form. Terra picked up a huge chunk of earth and dropped it on top of another group of goblins finishing them off.

The goblins were beginning to retreat back to Malchior. Raven and Haunter charged the remaining group together.

"Let's do it!" yelled Raven.

"Yeah!" said Haunter.

The two Titans jumped in the air and launched thier attacks. Both of them fired powerful black energy blasts at them and sent them on thier backs.

"Now let me show you what I can do!" Haunter said.

She took out her crossbow and fired it at some of the goblins. The arrows carried an energy charge and sailed at them in bright green streaks. The arrows detonated around the goblins hitting some of them in the chest and exploding. Several of the arrows went off around Malchior's feet and knocked him to the ground. Raven and Haunter landed on the ground not far from him. Malchior got to his feet. The rest of the Titans joined up with the girls.

"Good job guys." Robin said.

Cyber Malchior started down the team. He knew he couldnt take them all on at once.

"You guys want to know why I'm called Ghostwing? Check this out. Hey ugly, how about its just you and me?" The leader called out to him.

"Bring it on!" said Malchior.

"All right." said Ghostwing.

The Titan leader charged the cyborg knight. Malchior aimed his three prong claw at him. There was a cannon barrel in the middle. The claw began spinning and fired a laser blast. Ghostwing dodged the blast as it hit the ground next to him. Ghostwing drew his staff and jumped in the air. Malchior aimed his cannon arm, Ghostwing disappears in mid-air.

"Oh, I hate it when he does that!" the knight cried.

In the next instant he was struck across the face by the invisible Ghostwing. He staggered back as Ghostwing struck him again in the side. The Titans could hear him giving out karate yells as he stuck the knight with his staff and knocked him all over the place. One of Malchior's legs went out from under him and he was knocked on his back. Another loud smack was heard coming from his chest. Ghostwing reappeared in a series of backflips landing infront of the team. The Teen Titans were in awe.

"That's incredible." said Robin.

"You havent seen anything yet." said Starblaze.

"Had enough?" Ghostwing asked.

"Ugh, Not even close!" Malchior yelled.

"Dont say I didnt warn you." Ghostwing replied.

Pressing some kind of trigger on his guantlet, his right hand began to glow creating an blue energy ball.

"Fire!" he yelled.

Launching the energy ball at Malchior the blast hit with tremendous force. A large explosion issued from his chest, the knight screamed as his body short circuited and currents of electricity arced through his body resulting in multiple small explosions all around. He fell to his knees defeated. He looked up at Ghostwing, gritted his teeth in pain. The knight held his chest as he staggered to his feet.

"Your going to pay for that. You all will, count on it." he said. The knight retreated in a cloud of darkness and disappeared.

"How did you do all that?" Robin asked.

"You have superpowers?" Starfire asked.

"Actually, I dont have any powers. All my abilities come from the suit, including my power to shoot energy and invisibility." Ghostwing said.

"Cool, a self generating power suit." said Slade.

"Yeah, exactly." he said.

"What about your martial arts skills?" Robin asked.

"Oh, those are natural. You taught me those years ago. Everything else like super strength and speed are augmented through the Ghostwing suit." Mike said.

"Yeah, not bad for the most uncoordinated person around." Starblaze commented.

"Hey!" Ghostwing said.

"You should have seen him. He fell out of bed this morning and hit his head on the desk." she said.

Everyone started laughing.

"Kendra!" he yelled.

"Chill Ghost Boy, your almost as bad as your dad." Landslide said.

"Hey!" said Robin.

Everyone else around them laughed for a while longer before all of them powered down to thier civilain forms. Cooper Stone then decided to speak up.

"Well, I guess we should be getting out of here. Its not exactly safe for us." he said.

The rest of his team agreed with him.

"Come on, we'll take you back to our tower." Mike said.

"You guys have a tower?" Richard asked.

"Well, kind of. Come on, we'll show you." his son told him.

Cooper pressed a button on a keychain. A large black half ton four door truck pulled up to the gang. It was a GMC Sierra 2500 Heavy Duty with Duramax diesel engine. The truck was black with a green trim (you know like the T-Car).

topped off with a red police light bar on the top. And a black spoiler on the tailgate.

"I give you the T-Truck." said Cooper.

"You guys dont mind riding in the back do you?" asked Mike.

The Titans Tomorrow rode in the cab of the truck while thier parents rode in the bed. The cruised alongside a mountain highway next to the river as they headed back to the city. Gar tapped on the back window and Dustin opened it.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"So how long have you guys been a team?" Gar asked.

"Several years now." his son answered.

"So aside from being superheroes and stopping bad guys. What is it that you guys do exactly?" Gar asked.

"We kind of act as a police force here in San Antholas. The city has been in constant turmoil since Ryan took over." Dustin answered.

"So that's why you tried to arrest us earlier." Richard said.

"Right, we didnt recognize you at first and thougth you were enemy agents. Sorry about that." Dustin explained.

"That's all right. I'm guessing its not everyday a time portal opens up in your city?" Rich said.

"Around here, anything's possible." Dustin said.

"So where is your tower?" Raven asked.

"Its in the city. Hidden in plain view." he said.

The Teen Titans looked at each other baffled.

"Um, can you do one other thing? Can you make the sirens go?" Gar asked.

"Coop, Dad wants to hear the sirens." Dustin said.

"All right." Cooper said.

Pressing a button on the dash, the red lights came on and sirens started to wail. The truck speeds up and they race around the next corner to accompany the siren. All of Gar's teammates gave him a look.

"What? You wanted to hear it too." he said.

"Not when we're sitting right next to it." Raven said covering her ears.

"Heh heh, my bad." Gar told them.

"Dork." Raven said.

A while later they were in the city, it was about 7 o'clock at night. The T-Truck's sirens continued as they made their way through town. As they made thier way to the city center, a large black business tower came into view. The dark tower was wide at the base and narrow at the top, and appeared to go on for miles. They could see lights on inside the business tower. As they neared the building, the sirens were shut off and the truck proceeded into an underground tunnel, the sign above it reading _"street closed". _The truck traveled further underground until it reached a orange and white striped Road Closed sign. Cooper pressed a button on the dash and the sign layed flat on the ground as they drove over it, the sign rose back up as soon as they drove past. They came to a stop at the end of the tunnel. Part of the asphalt rose up and lifted the truck up to the above ground secret garage. Once inside the tower, the gang got out of the truck and walked over to the golden door elevator. Mike placed his hand on a palm scanner as a red beam of light sweeped across. The elevator took them up to the desired floor. The door opened and the 13 Titans made thier way down a dimly lit hallway. The Titans made their way up to a door in the shape of the Titans logo. Mike placed his hand on another palm scanner and the door opened in stylized fashion.

"Whoa." said Gar.

"Come on." said Mike.

Walking through the threshold, the Teen Titans are amazed by what they saw. Inside was a high tech base filled with computers but also seemed to have living areas. Such as a front room, kitchen, bedrooms and bathroom. There was also a game room. And if they went farther. A wall slid back to reveal an indoor swimming pool, with large tented windows including a high dive. Another door slid back and there was a training room. Upstairs there were bedrooms for each of the six Titans. Thier also seemed to be a virtual reality video game room, with lifesized holograms to play against. Thier was also an upstairs balcony that wrapped around the room that served as a catwalk and entrance to everyone's rooms. Downstairs they had a full sized basketball court and even batting cages in one corner of the room. As well as a music studio on the floor below that, the "basement" so to speek.

"Whoa, dude this place is off the chain!" said Gar.

"Your telling me dude. Man, this place kicks ass." said Vic.

"I live in a mansion and even we dont have some of this stuff." Rich said in awe.

"Its better than what I have." Kori commented.

"Is all this stuff really necessary?" Raven asked.

"Probably not, but you got to admit its pretty sweet." Slade told her.

"I want to live here." said Tara.

Several of the Titans laughed when they heard a door open they looked up to see a bright light shine from out of the circular hallway and a man stood at the top of a balcony. They couldnt make out his face at first, when the door closed and the light faded.

"Welcome Titans." he said.

The Titans looked up in suprise, they couldnt believe who it was. He was a tall slender man wearing a white shirt and an unbuttoned black t-shirt and a pair of jeans. He had black hair styled like a shark fin and a goatee. But most important of all his left arm was missing. When the Titans saw they almost didnt recognize him, but at the same time it was someone they knew all too well.

"Dr. Light?" Gar said.

"Its been a long time Gar." Light smiled.

"What happened to you?" he asked.

"Its a long story." His old teacher told him.

The balcony he was standing on lowered to the ground as he walked over to them.

"Guys, this is our mentor and benefactor. Dr. Arthur Light." Mike explained.

"They know who I am, Michael. I use to teach some of them. Though, not the same I did with you." Light said.

"Arthur?" Gar whispered to Vic. His pal stifled a laugh.

"I can see some people never change." Light said lighthearted.

"But you have." Rich said looking down at the doctor's missing arm.

"Yes, well...there's a lot you Titans need to know." He told them.

On the other side of the city Malchior stood infront of Ryan in his lair.

"I see, so the Teen Titans are here in 2034. And they've already teamed up with their children." he said.

"Is that any cause for concern?" Malchior asked.

"No, it should make it all the more intrestring." Ryan smiled.

"You have to understand Robin, a lot of things have changed here." Dr. Light told them.

Richard looked at the rest of his team members.

"We can handle anything." he told the doc.

"Then let's get started." Dr. Light said.

_Author's Note: All right, I bet some of you guys are probably scratching your heads after seeing Dr. Light enter the story. I know that a lot of people have come up with their own Titans kids, and have probably come up with better civilain names than I have. But instead of giving them elaborate names. I figured I'd give them names that were easy to remember. And put more creativity into thier superhero names such as Ghostwing. By the way, what did you think of thier names? I'd like to know your opinion. If you look close enough, some of the names involve wordplay. See if you can spot them. So let me know what you think of this chapter and send in a nice review. Thanks again to all my readers, for thier support in continuing this awesome story. _

_The Green Gallant. _

_Review. _


	35. Titans Tomorrow, Part 2

_Author's Note: All right, and we're back with the second installment of the Titans Tomorrow saga. Sorry it took so long to update. Anyway, I've been getting some good comments on the last chapter. And according to reviews you guys seemed to really like Mike Grayson/Ghostwing, his sister Kendra Grayson/Starblaze and a number of you seemed to like Rachael Wilson/Haunter. Which kind of caught me by suprise. I'm really glad everyone seems to like the Titans kids. Turnout for this was better than I expected, thanks again to everyone for thier support. And now without further ado, here's the 35th chapter of X High School. "Titans Tomorrow, Part 2" enjoy. _

Chapter 35

Titans Tomorrow, Part 2

The Teen Titans stood before Dr. Light, in the secret base of thier successors the Titans Tomorrow. The group stood in line as the doctor debriefed them.

"As you all know, a lot has happened in the years you've been gone from your time." he began.

"All right, so start back at the beginning. What happened? How did Ryan take over?" Vic asked.

"That's not an easy question to answer. About 25 years ago, Ryan was freed from his demonic prison. We think it happened when Raven was taken to the other side to open Pandora's Gateway. After that everything was a blur. The next few days was filled with chaos and his army flooded the city. The Teen Titans fought vallantly, but in the end were defeated. They were forced to retreat, Ryan began conquering city after city, before long he had the entire state under his command. The Titans later returned with the Justice League and together they clashed with Ryan's forces. The war waged for several more weeks. But sides fought relentlessly and took on heavy casualties. Ultimately, the forces of evil won. The Titans and Justice League were defeated, they had failed. Nothing else could be done." Dr. Light said.

"What happened to us?" Richard asked.

Dr. Light bowed his head. "Ryan captured Beast Man, Terra, Raven and Deathstroke. Nightwing, Starfire and Stone escaped. They've tried to free them several times and have proven unsuccessful. They did everything in their power to win them back. But Ryan was too strong. On thier last attempt, it was the closest they ever got to freeing them. They were on the verge of losing, Beast Man told them to leave. Nightwing didnt want to abandon them. Starfire told them they had no other choice, Stone held off the troops as best he could. Starfire had to take Nightwing away from the battle. He watched as Stone fought off Ryan's soldiers all by himself. We're not sure what became of him." Dr. Light told them.

"That's terrible." said Kori.

"When Mike and Kendra learned their parents were free, it inspired them to form thier own team with thier close friends. That happened 5 years ago, in the years that passed the new team managed to bring some order back to the city and remain as one of the few strongholds left on Earth. They have proved very formidible like yourselves. To this day they continue to fight for the freedom of the city and the world as Titans Tomorrow." Dr. Light concluded.

Richard turned back to his son. "So when you said we retired you meant..."

"By force, as in there was no one left to fight." Mike said.

"But now that your here, we may stand a change against him. And take back what's ours." Kendra added.

"And save our parents." Dustin said.

"Yeah! That's right." agreed the rest of the team.

"I dont know if we can. I mean, yeah we sound tough and all. But if our future selves couldnt defeat him. What chance do we have?" asked Gar.

"We have to try. We have no other choice." Richard told them. The rest of the team nodded.

"In the meantime you guys can stay with us." said Kendra.

"Yeah sure." said Mike.

"All right." said Dustin.

"Yeah, why not?" said Cooper.

Rich looked back at his team of Titans they all nodded and agreed.

"If its all right with you." He said to Dr. Light.

Light shrugged. "I dont see why not."

"Yeah!" said both teams.

"Come on, we'll show you around." Grant said taking his Dad by the wrist.

"Yeah, c'mon Mom!" said Rachael urging her mom to see her room.

"You guys are going to love this place." Dustin said putting his arms around his parents shoulders.

"I'm sure we will." said Gar.

"I know we will, they have a pool." Tara said. Gar and Dustin laughed.

The Titans kids took thier parents on a tour of the tower. Grant showed Slade his room. It was pretty good sized considering. The inside of his room was silver lined with blue and had assorted posters lined along the walls. Just like Slade did at home. He had a blue carpet with dirty clothes and other stuff thrown about. At the edge of the room next to a window was a king sized bed with blue and white covers. He had what looked like a CD player or something equivilent sitting on his dresser. He had speakers mounted in the upper corners of the room and had a plasma screen TV on his ceiling. As they entered the room, the CD player came on and played hard rock music Slade nodded his head in approval.

"Not bad." he said.

"Yeah, I got a thing for the classics." Grant said.

"But this stuff is current in my time." His dad said.

After a second of silence the guys shared a laugh.

While the Titans were busy showing thier parents around. Rich stood out on a balcony in the open air, the wind blowing through his hair as he looked down on the city. It was night now, the skies darkened and the city came to life. All across town buildings were bathed in neon lights. Colored streams highlighted the outlines of skyscrapers.

"Its beautiful isnt it?" came Kori's voice.

He looked back to see her standing in the doorway with her hands behind her back, the neon lights seemed to glisten off her body. Rich smiled.

"Yeah, it sure is." he said.

Kori smiled and walked over to him, the two of them looked over the city.

"Its really beautiful tonight." she said.

"Yeah." Rich said.

"I wish it was like this back home." she said leaning against the railing.

"This is home." he said matter of factly. Kori chuckled.

"You know what I mean." she said.

"Yeah."

"It hard to believe we're in the future." she said.

"I know, one minute we're fighting bad guys and the next we have kids. Makes me feel old." he joked.

Kori nudged his arm with her shoulder, Richard jokingly pushed her back and she did the same. The two laughed and teased each other as they leaned against the railing overlooking the city.

"You know, I never though I'd end up having kids with you." she said.

"Huh?" Rich said.

"Well, I mean I have...I use to dream about us being married when I was younger. I just never thought it would actually happen." she told him.

Rich stood there taken back by what she said. His surprise turned into a smile.

"Its funny, just when I think I have everything figured out. I'm thrown a curveball that turns everything upside down." he said.

Kori let out a soft giggle. "Tell me about it."

"I never would have seen this coming." Rich said.

"Who would?" she said.

He smiled at her warmly. "We've come a long way."

"And we'll make it the rest of the way together." Kori placed her hand over his and squeezed it.

"There's no one I'd rather be standing beside than you." she said.

"You too Kor." he said.

A few minutes later they walked down stairs into the common room where several of the other Titans teams had joined with the rest of them coming down the stairs behind Richard and Kori.

"You guys feel like going to a race?" Dustin asked.

A while later they guys were sitting in the arena watching motorcycles soar through the air. It was the AC Delco 400 at Dodge Stadium in downtown San Antholas. The gate was lowered and the race began, the riders made it down the straightaway into the first turn and over the first hill. The gang cheered wildly as riders soared over thier heads 15-20 feet in the air touching back down to earth and down the track. The leader on the green and yellow #415 made it over the next hill and flew through the air taking the first huge lead of the night. The rest of the pack wasnt far behind him as they took to the next hill in a blur of rainbow streaks. Richard was sitting in the audience with the rest of the teams. He clapped as they made it around the backstretch of the track and throught the next series of hills.

"So what do you think?" Kori yelled.

"Its kind of wierd being in the stands instead of out there!" he yelled over the crowd.

" I know!" she yelled back.

The riders were headed back to the front of the staduim where they were seated. The green and yellow rider was still in the lead but took a turn too hard, he lost control of his bike and slid across the dirt crashing into the wall wheels first. The rest of the pack flew past him. Several riders took to the inside to avoid hitting him. Another rider crashed into the wall head on and flew over the handlebard landing hard on his back. Rich groaned and looked away he knew that feeling. The other riders flew over the next hill, one guy flew 50 feet across touching down on earth and was in the lead. A blue racer caught up to him and challenged him for first. The two riders rode side by side as they jumped over hills and raced through the back straightaway of the track. With two more riders one in silver and the other in green battle for second/third position. The blue racer up front managed to get a small lead over the guy in yellow and was temporary in First, before coming up to the next turn and the yellow racer went inside and took back the lead from the blue rider. As they raced over the next set of hills, they were shown on the mega screen. The yellow racer was shown to be #150, while the blue rider is #200. The two racers battled back and forth. They headed were headed back to the front and jumped over a large hill the two riders soared 100 feet in the air and flew.

The crowd was in awe of them as they reached the second level of the stadium and came sailing back down to earth to continue the race. They battled harshly, with the green and silver riders struggling to keep up. #'s 150 & 200 lapped the pack and held thier tied position for first as they made their way to the front of the pack and over the next hill. The yellow racer managed to get a led over the blue racer and was the sole guardian for 1st. He redlined it and flew over the next hill giving him an even bigger lead. The rest of the pack wasnt far behind him as they started to catch up to the second place rider. He is passed by a rider in green, then by another in orange before being passed by another rider in green and gray, bumping the blue rider down to forth place. The race was really picking up as other riders started to challenge the leader.

A fifth rider in red flies by the next corner and races up to the front. They come over the next hill. The red rider goes flying above thier heads and lands in third place, in an incredible leap. Its now a three way battle as they make it down the last turn and into the final stretch of the race. The red rider guns it and soars over the next hill taking second away from the green rider, he's just inches away from reaching first as the rider in orange fights to keep his position. They make it to the final hill and jump, the two motorcycles soar through the air in slow motion. The red rider throws his weight onto the front of the bike as their coming down and he beats him by a tire length. The race is over, #211 the red rider has won it in a stunning upset. The orange rider comes in second, followed by the green rider in third, the green and gray rider in forth and the blue rider in fifth as the rest of the pack jumped over the finish line with the checkered flag waving. Richard and the others cheer at the come from behind win of #211.

The red rider rode up the ramp to the winner's platform. The audience roared heralding the rider's extrodinary win. He removed his helmet and sat it down beside him. His image was captured on the mega screen, the Teen Titans were stunned at who it was. He was an older man with black hair and blue eyes, the rider smiled and waved as the crowd whistled and cheered. The trophy girl came up to him with a wreath of flowers placing it over his neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek as she handed him his trophy. He held the golden trophy in the air triumphantly. The stadium's strobe lights flashed as all eyes were on him. He was given a bottle of champaign that he shook and sprayed in the air as he whooped and cheered.

"The winner of the AC Delco 400. #211, the legendary Richard 'Wingman' Grayson!" the announcer yelled. The adium erupted.

The Teen Titans sat in thier seats stunned none more so than Richard himself.

"Dude." said Gar.

"How?" said Slade.

"Yeah, about that. I forgot to say that people live longer in the future." Mike said.

"But he's..." Rich tried to say.

"Old?" said Gar.

Rich gave him a look but then answered. "Yeah..."

"In this time, 40's the new 20." Mike told them.

"Yeah, Grandpa Wayne's 70 and he's out rockclimbing." Kendra said.

"Besides, wasnt Batman 40 when he was fighting crime?" Mike asked.

"Actually, yeah." said Rich.

"Then you have nothing to worry about." Mike smiled.

"Ha ha ha." Rich laughed.

"Well let's go down and meet him." said Gar.

"NO!" yelled thier kids.

"Why not?" asked Kori.

"You want the universe to explode?" said Dustin.

The entire group sat down.

"There's this sci-fi rule that says if your past and future selves meet. Something will happen to the time stream. And the universe would collapse or something." said Cooper.

"Would that happen?" asked Rich.

"We're not sure but let's not try it." said Rachael.

"Yeah." said the kids.

"C'mon we got plenty of other places we want to show you." said Mike.

The group left the stadium and walked over to the T-Truck. As they were walking to the truck they saw the older Richard walking out of the stadium the kids spot him and pushed thier parents into the cab of the truck, closing the doors. The older Richard never saw them and continued on his way climbing into the team car and driving off. The Titan kids sigh in relief. They opened the doors, Tara and Gar fell out. Dustin and Grant helped them up.

"Sorry about that." said Mike.

"What was that for?" asked Rich.

"Well, you just went by and we kind of freaked." he admitted.

"It wont happen again." said Grant.

"We'll ride in the back." said Mike.

"I think I'll ride in the back with you. Not enough room in the front." said Tara.

"I think I'll join you." said Gar.

"All right, I'll drive." said Cooper.

The two teams switched positions in the truck. Vic sat in the back with Kori and Richard, while Raven and Slade rode in the front with Cooper. The Titans Tomorrow along with Gar and Tara rode in the bed. They were rolling down the street, with the windows down. The Titans were in awe of the neon lit skyscrapers. Every building was decorated in different colored lights. The city was covered in brilliant flashing strobing lights. As the ventured on down, the fronts of buildings had neon signs for brands and attractions. It really was the place to be. Every street corner was painted in hundreds of blinking lights. With all the flashing lights it was sometimes hard to see street lights and turn signals from cars. They turned onto a boulevard and made their way down the adjacent street. As they headed down the road the street was darker, there weren't any neon lights as on the street before. This seem like a normal road. Cooper turned on the headlights as they headed down the block. The road was dark, dismal and seemed to be deserted. The street contained nothing but some rundown old buildings, and an old abandoned car with some of its doors and headlights missing. Billows of steam would usher up from vents. It was by far the most dark and depressing street in town.

"What is this place? Why isnt it lit up like all the others?" Kori asked.

"This is the Boulevard of Broken Dreams. This is where hope dies." said Cooper.

"What do you mean?" asked Raven.

"This part of town is the slums. I knew some friends that use to live here." He said.

"Where are they now?" Kori asked.

"Thier gone." he said.

As they drove on through Kendra told Gar and Tara to get down as the rest of them lied down in the bed of the truck. Cooper continued to drive on through the neighborhood without drawing too much attention to themselves. Two young black men watched on as they drove past. A few minutes later they were out of the neighborhood and back on the one of the main streets. The city lights came back into view and they were in the clear.

"You can get up now." Kendra told them.

The truck drove on down another street to the other side of town, they pulled into a parking lot. They jumped out of the truck and walked to the front of a building with a blue light-up sign. They made it up to the front, past the line where the bouncer allowed them in knowing who they were. Inside was a dance club, the ceiling and walls were lined with streams of blue neon lights. The gang walked downstairs to the dance floor were everyone was jamming. The Titans were all dressed in their club clothes. The gang dispersed and went off to find dance partners. Mike walked up to a black haired girl in a silver short dress. She smiled at him and they started dancing together. Dustin was taken by two girls and escorted to a place on the dance floor and they started dancing together. Gar and Tara watched their son in surprise, a smile came across Gar's face. It was offical, his son's a ladies man. He smiled back at Tara and they started to dance. Rich placed his hands on Kori's shoulders from behind she turned to him and they began to dance. Grant danced with a blonde haired girl in the center. The girl turned her back to him and they grind together. You sure you want to do that with your parents around? Speaking of which Slade and Raven danced together on the other side of the dance floor. Cooper was dancing with three girls to himself a black girl, a white girl and a latina. Now that is pimpin. The Latina girl took a step back and the black girl and white girl danced with Cooper side by side, with his hands in the air. The two girls would change up with him. Vic was dancing with a nice blonde girl and seemed to be having fun with her. She smiled as they danced together. Meanwhile Rich was having a hard time trying to keep up with Kori. He had forgotten, what an agressive dancer she was. Rich may be a kickass martial artist, but Kori's a kickass dancer.

Not far from the club a building explosion rocked the area. The local bank had just been hit, the shockwaves could be felt from inside the club as several people started to panic. The Titans regrouped in one place when thier communicators went off simotaniously.

"Doc what's going on?" said Mike.

"The Second National Bank has just been hit." Dr. Light said.

Mike looked up at his team.

"We'll deal with crowd control. Dustin, Cooper think you can handle those crooks?" he said.

"Yeah!" said Dustin.

"Count on it." said Cooper.

"Go guys, we handle things here." Mike said.

"Right!" they said.

"Rachael go with them!" Mike ordered.

"All right, be careful." she said.

Mike nodded as he and the rest of the Titans attempted to defuse the situation. Rachael, Cooper and Dustin snuck out to side door. The three Titans ran into the parking lot.

"I'll cover you from the air." Rachael said.

"All right, we'll take the truck!" said Dustin.

Cooper and Dustin climbed into the green and black police truck. Rachael ran up the parking lot and took out a device, in a flash of orange and black light Rachael became The Haunter. The Dark Titan took to the air, as the T-Truck pulled out of the parking lot and onto the street with red lights flashing and sirens wailing. Back inside the remaining Titans tried to calm down the club patrons in order to prevent anyone from getting trampled on in the panic. Meanwhile Cooper, Dustin and Rachael raced down the street after the crooks in a getaway van. Rachael spotted them from the air.

"Cooper, I have a visual on the crooks." she said over her ear piece.

"Good. Take them down if you can." Cooper said.

"Roger." she said.

Haunter took out her crossbow and aimed it at the speeding van, her arrow glowed green and fired it at the last second the van veered and she missed it. The arrow exploded the van flipped through the air. The driver of the van hit a button. The wheels flipped down and rockets fired from under the van and propelled it through the air.

"You got to be kidding me!" she said.

"No way!" Cooper said.

The van turned direction and flew towards Haunter. Her eyes widened in shock they opened fire on her. Haunter pull up a shield and blocked the gunfire as the van flew towards her. She ducked down as the van rammed into the shield shattering it. The gunman pointed his machine rifle straight down and started shooting at her again. Haunter made a B line and took off in a horizontal line to avoid the gunfire. The van turned around and realligned his aim and fired at her again. The cloaked hero flew as fast as she could just barely dodging the blazing bullets.

"Hang on Rachael!" yelled Cooper.

He pressed the horn and the truck changed to flight mode. The truck's massive tires fold flat. A pair of triangular shaped wings flip out of the sides of the truck bed and the rear rocket ignited taking the T-Truck skyward. The van turned around to see them coming towards them.

"You boys ready to play with the big dogs?" Cooper said.

"Its those Titans!" exclaimed one of the crooks.

"You guys are in a world of trouble now!" Coop said pressing the triggers on the steering wheel.

Twin laser beams shot out of the headlights and made a direct hit on the van's under side. They began to retreat as the truck went after then.

"Hold on now, we're just getting started." Coop said as he unleashed a volley of fire from the trucks laser headlights.

The crooks tried to evade his fire as best they could, dodging behind buildings using them as shields. The two vehicles raced around the city skyline. Just when the crooks thought they lost them, Haunter came around the corner headed towards them.

"Remember me?" she said taking aim at them.

The Titan fired her arrow at them, the van did a barrel roll avoiding the arrow. As they were in mid-roll the T-Truck came from behind a corner and opened fire on them hitting the van right in the ceiling taking on serious damage.

"My turn!" Haunter said as she fired several arrows at the front of the van.

The multiple hits knocks the getaway van out of the sky.

"Dustin its all yours." she said.

"You got it." He said.

In a flash of blinding yellow light Dustin transformed into Landslide and streched out his hand from the truck. His hand glowed as a large stone hand reached up from out of the ground and grab a hold of the falling truck. Dustin squeezed his hand and tightened the rock hand's grip on the van. The van's walls gave way as the hand gripped the van tightly. The vehicle layed on its side, the two crooks topple and fall through the passenger window. Haunter shot a pair of special arrows that changed into nets and caught the two villains. Dustin flew past them on a rock board and turned the base of the arm into a pile of soft sand for them to land on as he lowered the damaged van to the ground with the remainer of the rock hand before dispersing the hard element. Police cars pulled up to the group as the T-Truck hovered in mid-air.

"All right!" Cooper yelled.

"Nicely done." Rachael said.

"Good work guys." Dustin told them.

The police came to take away the criminals, the cops congradulate them on a job well done. With the exception to some minor damage done to public property.

"Thanks again guys." a mustachioed policeman said.

"No problem, just doing our job." Haunter told them.

Landslide took out his communicator and contacted the gang.

"Go for Mike." came the voice on the other end.

"Michael we got the bad guys. How are things on your end?" he asked.

"We just got things back under control here. No injuries reported." The leader told them.

"Good. I dont know about you guys, but I'm ready to call it a night." Dustin told them.

"Same here. Meet us back here, the rest of us are beat." Mike said.

"Yeah!" said everyone on Mike's end.

"All right, we'll meet you back there. Landslide out." he said putting away his com.

"You all right?" he asked Rachael.

"Yeah I'm fine." The orange cloaked Titan told him.

"You had us worried for a while." Dusty said.

"Your not the one that was being shot at." she said.

"Come on, let's go home. Yo Coop, we flying or drivin'?" Dustin called out.

"Come on, I'll give you a lift." she said taking his arm.

The two of them flew up to the truck and got in and flew back to the club. As they neared the block the T-Truck shifted back to street mode and touched down in the road they pulled into the parking lot where the others were waiting for them. They drove back to the tower. The T-Truck headed into the underground passageway and up the elevator with the pickup and walked inside thier home. Exhausted plop down around the couch and surrounding chairs in the living room and turned on the giant screen TV just in time to see them talking about tonight's adventure on the news. Dr. Light walked into the room and watched the newscast behind his students.

"So did everyone have fun tonight?" he asked.

Everyone groaned a response.

_Author's Note: Hey I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you think. I do have one question though. I've been toying with the idea a little but, how would you feel if I featured the Titans Tomorrow in thier own self-titled story? Do you think I should do a spin off of thier continuing adventures? Yes or no? Let me know if your response in the reivew. And now everyone, its that special time. _

_Please review now. _


	36. Titans Tomorrow, Part 3

_Author's Note: All right, sorry it took so long to update again. I just want to thank everyone for all the extra reviews I've been getting. You guys are great. I tried to get this up as soon as I could. I'm a little iffy about this chapter. But I hope its to everyone's liking. Let me know what you think. And now here's the long awaited 36th chapter of X High School. "Titans Tomorrow, Part 3" enjoy. _

X High School

Chapter 36

Titans Tomorrow, Part 3

The next morning at Liberty Tower, the Teen Titans were found sleeping around the living room. Kori slept on the couch while several of the guys slept on the floor. Raven and Tara shared an easy chair with a blanket wrapped around them. Rich slept on the floor at the foot of the couch infront of Kori. Gar had changed into animal form during the night and slept on a large cushioned foot rest curled up as a cat. Slade slept on the opposite couch and Vic slept on the floor next to the table. As for the kids, they were all sound asleep in their beds. The morning light shined through the windows, some of the Titans groaned and turned over in their sleep trying to block out the light. The windows automatically tented to darken the room some allowing them to sleep a little longer.

There was a roll of thunder, a storm was coming but this was no ordinary storm. As clouds darkened the sky turned blood red. The sky roared, the loud crash of thunder shook the tower to its very foundation scaring everyone awake. The alarms went off in the tower, everyone jumped to thier feet, as the kids ran into the room in thier pajamas as well as thier mentor. The screens came on-line in response to the emergency. The entire living room was covered in flashing red lights. The Tower's systems tried to locate the source of the disturbance, but the Titans Tomorrow already knew what it was.

"What's going on?" Richard said.

"Ryan's calling." said his son.

Outside the skies turned to deep crimson, as if the angel of death had filled the sky with blood. There was panic in the street as people fled for cover. Inside, Ryan's image appeared on screen.

"Titans, the time has come, for me to take back the city." Ryan addressed.

"We're ready for you!" Mike said.

"And we can handle anything you throw at us." Cooper added.

"Stop, you dont know what your doing!" Dr. Light advised.

"It seems as though they do." Ryan told Light.

"You have something that belongs to us." Kelsey stated.

"And you have something that belongs to me. So let's settle the matter once and for all." Ryan said.

"Bring it on." Mike told him.

The earth began to shake as Ryan's forces charged toward the city.

"It's on." Ryan stated aptly.

"Titans, move out!" Mike yelled to his team.

The Titans transform into thier superhero identities and raced out of the room.

"You heard the man!" Richard said.

At the same time his team transformed into the Teen Titans. Instead of taking the truck, the front wall of the base opens up and they jump from the building. As they drop from the sky Starfire takes a hold of Robin, as their children follow suit. Raven takes hold of Deathstroke and Ravager as they soar through the sky on waves of dark energy. While Haunter does the same with Everest. Beast Boy changes into a pteradactyl and grabs Stone. While Landslide rides on a surfboard carved out of rock and Terra flies in on a boulder. As the Titans flew into action they couldnt believe what they saw. Goblins, thousands of them were storming the city. They had never taken on so many at once.

"Oh my god." said Kelsey.

"How do we beat all of those?" Dustin asked.

"Anyway, we can." said Mike.

"Ghostwing's right." said Raven.

"All right, you guys ready?" said Cooper.

"YEAH!" yelled everyone.

"Let's kick some ass." Grant said.

"All right guys let's show them what we can do." Mike said.

"Teen Titans..." said Robin.

"Titans Tomorrow..." said Ghostwing.

"GO!" said both teams.

Terra and Landslide teamup and combine thier powers, causing the street to rip itself apart. In upheveal, the highway engulfed scores of goblins, crushing and burying them alive. As the girls let go of the guys, Robin and the other non-flying heroes are caught by a squadron of rocket boards. The Titans scramble and attack the goblins. Ghostwing fired blasts of energy, as the goblins pointed their scythes and returned fire. He dodged the blasts and kept shooting taking several of them down. Robin flew in on his board drawing his sword and staff and knocked them down like dominoes. Ghostwing continued blasting at them until his board was hit. Michael did a backflip and activated his rocket boots using his board like a missle and took several of them out. The Titan Leader took out his staff as he soared upward. The titanium staff glowed blue. He swung his weapon sending out an energy wave at them resulting in a large explosion. Robin followed suit, soaring straight up, sheathing his weapons and replaced them with a pair of birdarangs. As he climbed higher he went into a loop and sent his razor-tipped birdarangs flying at them at full force. The birdarangs cut several of the Goblins and struck the ground resulting in a tremendous explosion that sent them flying. He came out of the loop as he contrinued his assault, throwing an ice pod freezing one of them and then smashing it with his staff. Starblaze opened fire on a group of goblins in another sector attacking them from above, the goblins retailiated by fireing back at her.

Ravager jumps off his rocket board and aims a shoulder mounted gatling gun and fired at the goblins. The multi-barrel, rapid fire bazooka mowed them down. Another goblin charged him head-on and aimed its scythe for his neck. The Titan rolled and fired a single round at him blowing a hole through its chest. Another one charged him and swung its weapon Ravager ducked and blocked the scythe with his weapon, using it as a shield. The goblin continued its attack. Grant kicked it from under his gun, he aimed it at its face and blew it away.

"Who else wants some?" he said as more goblins rushed to attack him.

One ambushed him from behind with it's scythe drawn. A stray starbolt blindsided the monster as another one hit its face and a third one went straight through the creature's chest. Grant looked up to see Starblaze hovering above him as she launched more starbolts at the monsters to drive them away from him. Grant nodded aiming his gatling gun and mowing down the remaining goblins that were closest to him.

"I owe you one, Kendra." he said.

"No problem, wouldnt want anything to happen to you." she said.

"You too, thanks!" he said over his com-link.

She smiled, distracted by him not even seeing the blue goblin that was about to ambush her from behind.

"Watch out!" he yelled aiming his cannon. The Titan ducked as Grant opened fire, the bullets rip the goblin into shreads in mid-air.

Starblaze breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks Grant." she said.

"No problem, get your head in the game." he told her.

"All right." she said flying off.

"And be careful." he told her.

"You too." she said.

"Dont worry, I'll be fine. Make sure the others are ok." he said.

"Ok, be careful Grant." she told him.

"I will." was the last thing he said.

Starblaze took off in the other direction leaving Grant to fight the goblins remaining in the sector. From his command fortress Ryan watched the battle on his big screen. The Dark Lord watched the young Titan in intrest.

"He's all alone...good. Bring him to me." he ordered.

No sooner was it spoken, the goblins carried out his order. They rushed him all at once. Ravager tried desperately to keep them at bay. He unloaded the entire clip on them, but as one went down another two took his place. He was being overwhelmed by them, there were too many of them.

"Guys help! There's too many of them!!!" he yelled into his com-link as he tried to hold them off.

"Grant, where are you?" said Mike.

"I'm coming!" Kendra yelled.

"Guuuuuuuuyyyyyyyysssssssss!" He screamed as he was buried beneath them.

"Grant? Grant!" yelled Kendra.

"Grant! Are you there? Come in! Graaant!" Mike yelled.

"What happened to him?" Cooper said.

"Michael where is he? Where's my brother?" Rachael said

"...They got him...he's gone." Mike told them.

"No." Dustin said.

Kendra could be heard sobbing on her end.

Grant woke up on the floor of a strange room. He got up and found himself back in civilain form. After frantically searching his pockets, he found that his transformation device was gone. He scanned the room, it looked to be some sort of dungeon. There wasnt anyone else in the room, the only thing visible to him were stone stairs and a red door. The door opened and the guard grabbed him and forced him through the door shutting it behind. The large muscle bound guard ushered him down the hallway and into Ryan's main chamber. The doors slid open and he was tossed inside and hit the floor.

"Welcome, I've been waiting for you." came a sinister voice.

Grant looked up to see Ryan sitting on the throne. The Dark Lord was clothed in robes as black as the night. Wearing a dark sleeveless shirt and pants with a pitch black robe with scarlet undertrim upon his shoulders. He had short white hair and piercing red eyes and carried in his hand a long silver staff with a blood red crystal ball at the head of the staff. The manevolent ruler stood up from his throne and walked down the stairs to face his nephew.

"Grant Wilson, long time no see." he said in his cool, calm demenor.

"Ryan Trigon. What do you want?" Grant said.

"I've been watching you for some time." Ryan told him.

"Great, I have a stalker." Grant quipped.

"Heh. You know how they say, blood is thicker than water?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, well in your case. I'd get a transfusion." Grant told him.

"Your aware of our relation." Ryan said.

"All too well, I'm afraid. So what did you bring me here for? Something tells me its not for being your rebel of the month." Grant said.

"Heh heh. Even in the face of danger, you manage to retain your sense of humor. I respect that in a warrior." Ryan said.

"Get to the point Trigon, what is it you want?" Grant told him.

The Dark Lord looked him in the eye.

"I've seen your future. Would you like to take a look?" he asked. The Titan glared at him in definace.

Ryan smirked with a sweep of his staff, he tore open a rift in time that showed an image. Grant's eyes widened in shock. Before them was a man dressed in black with a mask simular to Grant's. An all black version of his Ravager mask with the same red eyes. The futuristic Grant was a virtural war machine. His body was covered in armor on his forearms, legs, chest and a line of armor plating over his abs. On his upper body were two shoulder mounted cannons. His right arm was a rocket launcher and his left arm had a saber attached to the outside of his forearm.

"Grant Wilson, meet your future self. Black Ravager. My servant." Ryan revealed.

"No." he said in disbelief.

"Right now, there's a battle waging inside of you between good and evil. And you dont know which side to choose. Each day you question your usefulness and wheather you have what it takes to be a hero. Its been this way ever since you joined your team. You wonder if the weapons you use should be used to protect your precious city or destroy it. You stuggle to keep the darkness in your heart at bay as you pretend to be a hero. Not knowing what you really want. Well let me point you to the answer. You destroy your own team, and kill each of them off one by one." Ryan said.

Grant quivered, he knew every bit of it was true. These were the feelings of his heart. He didnt feel like he belonged on the team and could easily turn on them at any given time. What was it that kept him from crossing that line? He wondered to himself, suddenly the image of Kendra flashed in his mind. It was her, it was her acts of kindness and friendship that kept him from crossing the line of darkness. Of all his teammates he felt closest to her. He couldnt allow this to happen. He asserted himself and stared up at Ryan in defiance.

"That will never happen Ryan. I refuse to join you." he said.

"You dont have a choice, my dear nephew. These are things that shall come. You cannot altar destiny." Ryan told him.

"I choose my own destiny. As God as my witness I will never join the forces of evil!" He proclaimed.

Ryan laughed. "Well then, it will be all the more intrestring when you break that oath. You will join my side one day. I promise you that."

The battle waged on for the Titans as Ghostwing slashed a goblin in half with his sword. Deathstroke took out another goblin with a shot to the head. He had his pistols drawn as he fired at other goblins.

"Something's wrong." Deathstroke said.

"Yeah I know what you mean." Ghostwing said cutting another one in two across the midsection.

"Thier making it too easy." he finished.

"It must be a diversion." Starfire said floating in the air. She fired a starbolt that melted a goblin's head.

"I agree." Robin said as he struck down two more with his sword.

"Why the decoy?" Landslide asked as he punched a goblin in the face and turned and kicked another one in the back and sent it flying into the other goblins.

" I dont know." Robin said as he slashed another one across the chest diagonally.

"Guys, what if its Ravager they were after?" Starblaze asked.

"Its possible." Robin said.

"Its more than possible. He must have been the one they were after." Ghostwing said as he kicked another one in the chest and then fired an energy blast sending two goblins flying.

"What do we do?" Starblaze asked.

"We need to take them down hard and fast." Ghostwing said.

Back in the lair, Grant was being held down by guards trying to bring him under submission.

"Guards restain him!" Ryan yelled.

Grant kicked the one on his left in the side and pulled the one on his right towards the other. He kneed the one on the right in the stomach and headbutted it in the face. Once free he did a sweeping kick knocking the guard to the ground. The one on the left went to attack him. Grant rolled around kicking his legs knocking it back. He got to his feet and gave him a swift kick in the jaw knocking the other guard to the ground. The other one gets back up. Grant did a spinning kick to the head knocking it back down, before he flipped foward and slammed his heel against the goblin's chest. He backflipped away from the down guards and ran toward the table that held his transformation device. He made a dive for it, Ryan fired a blast from his staff and threw him across the room slamming into a wall.

"Your not getting out of here that easily." He said.

"Wanna bet?" Grant said. He held his shoulder as he staggered to his feet.

Back outside the Titans launched an all out attack on the raiding goblin army. The Grayson kids along with Starfire, Raven & Haunter brought thier energies together and fired a high powered blast decimating some of the troops. Deathstroke got in there with a rocket launcher, the missiles soar through the sky with a loud whistle and hit the midst of the group with an ear-splitting explosion. Robin continued taking out goblins one on one with his sword, cutting a swath through them. Beast Boy had assumed various animal forms, while Stone and Everest did what they do best. Smashing thier way through the troops. Stone picked up a damaged car and hurled it at a group of goblins crushing them. Everest tore up chunks of concrete, tossing it up and punched sending the slabs flying at the enemy. Terra was terring up portions of the street and sent goblins flying.

Back in the lair Grant charged toward Ryan. Cyborg Malchior jumped infront of him aiming his cannon arm, his tripod-like claw spun as he fired a laser blast at him. Grant jumped in the air to avoid the blast and came down on Malchior and used his face as a stepping stone. The knight slid across the ground as Grant soared and flipped through the air. Coming back to earth he snatched the device from the table and tumbled across the floor.

"No!" Ryan yelled.

Grant pushed the button on his device and was consumed in a burst of blue and silver light transforming him once again in Ravager. Malchior got to his feet, the heel of Grant's footprint imprinted across his right cheek. The Titan drew his twin katanas. Malchior drew the sword on his back and his cybernetic left arm transformed. The claws folded into a drill like formation and then his arm switched around to reveal a second sword.

"Do not let him escape!" Ryan yelled.

"I will not fail you master." Malchior responded.

"You better not or it will be your head!" he yelled.

"You ready?" said Ravager.

"Let's do this." replied Malchior.

They charged each other and clashed in the middle of the room. Sweeping metal flashed back and forth, engaged in fierce combat. Neither side determined to lose. One determined to get out alive. Malchior seemed to overpower him driving the Titan back. But he bravely fought back and held his ground against the cybernetic knight. He caught Malchior's cyber sword with his own and held off that blade as best he could while Malchior attacked him with his free sword the two of them locked in close combat, any mistake now would prove fatal. He blocked Malchior's sword as Grant's own sword was inches away from his throat. Malchior used his enhanced strength to try and overpower him, it was working. The Titan leaned back as he tried to avoid being cut by his own blade. At the same time Malchior was trying to free his cyber sword to impale him through the stomach. There was nowhere for him to go Grant was trapped. His back arched further and further to avoid the edge of his own sword. In a do-or-die move, Grant went to the ground and catapulted Malchior through the air using his legs. The Titan immediatly got back on his feet as the knight struggled getting to his. He charged Malchior at full burst, dragging his sword across the ground as a tail of sparks followed it, the knight down on one knee saw him coming towards him and put up a front crossing his blades to guard him. Ravager brought up his right sword and slinged it through the air. The blade cut through the elbow of Malchior's cybernetic arm completly severing it. The knight retailated with his remaining sword, Ravager blocked it with his left blade and cut through the knight's sword with his right. His eyes widened in shock as Ravager finished it. Bringing his swords together once more he slashed over his chest in an X shape cutting deep into the knight's robotic armor. Malchior screamed in pain as the wound in his chest began to glow. Ravager jumped back as the cyborg's body detonated in a large explosion. Ryan looked on in disbelief. In the midst of the smoke Malchior's head bounced across the ground, very much alive.

"Ow! Dammit!" He yelled.

Grant sheathed his swords and made his escape blowing apart the doors on his way out. Back outside the Titans were down to the last remaining troops. There was well over a hundred of them left.

"Its time to finish this. Rachael follow my lead." Dustin told her.

"Right." she said.

The goblins charged the Titans for one last assault.

"Dont go away angry, just go away." Landslide said as he powered up.

The emerald skinned Titan stretched out his arms as his hands began glowing yellow. He began ripping out the highway from under the invading troop. His focused his energy and brought his power to full as his entire body began to glow. The goblins jumped back as flames shot out of the earth and consumed Landslide, tounges of fire swirled around his body, the flames never touching him. The Titans looked on in awe and the goblins looked on in fear.

"Now! Use your asterial form!" he yelled.

"Azarath Clarion Magnus!" using her most powerful spell Haunter transformed into her gigantic bird form.

Landslide erupted shooting fire straight up above, Haunter flew into the firestorm and was consumed by it. Coming out of the raging inferno, the asterial phoenix dived in and incenerated the goblins, completely annihiliating them. Haunter came out of her phoenix form and dispersed the flames around her. The street laid in ruins, charred beyond recognition from the battle. It was finally over, the Titans had won. They heard the sound of shifting rubble and turned to see Ravager headed toward them completely unharmed.

"Grant!" they all yelled.

Starblaze swooped down and wrapped her arms around him, he put his arms around her and smoothed her hair. Not long after that Haunter came over and gave him a hug.

"I'm so glad that your safe." Starblaze said.

"Hey, nothing can keep me from you guys." he said.

"Its good to have you back Grant." Haunter said.

"Its good to be back." he said.

The rest of the Titans gathered around him, thankful he was alive. Later that night at the tower, the gang held a pizza party celebrating thier victory. While the others were downstairs, Grant was upstairs looking out a window with a plate of pizza in hand.

"Something on your mind?" came a voice.

He turned to see Kendra standing at the top of the stairs with her hands behind her back. Still in her Titan uniform.

"I was just thinking." he said turning back to the window.

"You should be downstairs, we're throwing this party because your safe." she said.

"I know." he said looking down at his slice of pizza.

"What's wrong?" she asked moving closer to him.

"Its nothing." he said.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

He stood in silence, staring at a blank wall.

"Grant?" she said.

He shut his eyes and swallowed the lump in his throat.

"You know you can tell me anything." she said.

"When I was being held by Ryan, he looked into my future." he said gazing at her.

"Your future?" she said. He nodded.

"Ryan said that I would turn on you guys...and kill everyone. He said I was going to become his servant called Black Ravager." he told her.

Kendra took his hand and looked up at him with her soothing green eyes.

"I cant imagine what you must be feeling, but your a great guy Grant. And I'm proud to fight by your side. No matter what, I'll always be here. You've always done the right thing in the past Grant. I know you'll do the right thing. I love you Grant." she said.

"You love me?" he said.

"Yeah." she said smiling.

"I dont know what to say." he said.

Kendra drew herself closer to him.

"You dont have to say anything." She told him.

He smiled at her, only then did he notice how close they were to each other.

"Thanks Kendra." He said.

The young Titan pulled him into a hug and rested her cheek against his. Setting down his plate he wrapped his arms around her middle and drew her closer to him as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She felt the heat radiating off his cheek as he placed his hand near the base of her neck. She looked up at him and gently kissed his lips, after a brief second Grant kissed back as she returned the affection. He pulled her tighter into his body as she grasped the back of his neck with both hands. They pulled apart and looked into each others eyes. They smiled and drew each other into another hug.

"I'm always here for you Grant." she whispered in his ear.

"Yeah, I know that now." he replied.

They heard a scream coming from downstairs, they rushed down the flight with Grant jumping at the halfway point landing on his knee, they ran into the common room to see a huge bluish-silver time vortex that was theatening to suck in the team. They all held onto each other in a human chain.

"What's happening?" Grant yelled.

"A time vortex is trying to taking your parents home!" Dr. Light yelled.

"Guys, you have to let go! Its your way home to the past! You have to trust in it!" Mike yelled.

"But what about our parents in this time? How are we going to rescue them?" Rachael yelled.

"This is the way its meant to be, we have to trust in it!" Dr. Light explained.

"Dad, there's so much I havent told you!" Grant yelled.

"I know you'll turn out just fine Grant. Your a Wilson, your a survivor!" Slade said.

"We love you all!" Kori said.

"Mom!" yelled Kendra.

"Dad!" yelled Mike.

"Guys!" Dustin yelled to his parents.

"Pop!" yelled Cooper.

Rachael looked on in silence.

"We're proud of all of you, good luck. " Richard said.

The Titans of the Future looked on as thier parents were about to be taken home. The parents smiled at thier children reassuring them that things will be all right. All at once thier parents cried out:

"Teen Titans Go!"

"Titans Tomorrow Go!"

Richard let go of the bar and the parents were hurled into the past. Their kids watched on as the portal closed.

"Good luck." Michael said.

In the present the time portal opens and the Teen Titans drop from the sky infront of the roadside restaraunt they were eating at before they were attacked. The gang landed in the middle of the road in a dogpile. It was night time now, the Titans crawled off of each other trying to untangle body parts when a pair of headbeams gleamed on them and the sound of an approaching semi, the truck went around them as they screamed. With the driver yelling something unintelligible as he went past. They quickly got off the road and made it to the bank, completely terrified. When they came to their senses, they realized that the black Surburban was still in the parking lot, amazingly. The team looked at each other and made their way over to the truck, not sure if they should go inside and ask how long they've been gone. They may have a hard time explaining what happened. Vic climbed into the cab and turned the ignition, the clock read 7:05 pm.

"Anyone know what day it is?" he asked.

Everyone else takes out thier cell phone.

"Its the 9th." Raven said.

"We've been gone for a whole day." Vic said.

"So what do we do now?" Gar asked.

"I dont know about you guys, but I'm ready for home." Rich said.

"Yeah." everyone agreed.

"It would be nice to sleep in my own bed." Vic said.

"Well, we still have all our stuff back at the campsite." Gar noted.

"Oh yeah." went several of them.

"Let's just get back to the camp, we can do...whatever tomorrow. I'm too tired to think." Tara stated.

"Yeah." went the guys.

They shut the doors to the SUV and drove off, headed back to the camp. Most of the gang was already fast asleep.

"You know what?" said Richard.

"What?" asked Tara.

"I'd say the future's in good hands." he said.

"We did raise some pretty awesome kids." she told him.

"Yeah." said Rich.

"That we did ya'll. That we did." Vic said as they headed down the road.

_Author's Note: All right, sorry if there's any typos. I hope everyone liked it. I gave it my best shot. So let me know what you think and perhaps what you'd like to see happen in the next chapter to give me a better idea. _

_Please Review. _

_The Green Gallant. D_


	37. Back to Normal?

_Author's Note: All right, I'm real sorry about the hold up I didnt mean for it to take this long. I've decided to break this chapter into 2 parts I figured it'd be easier that way. Once again I'm sorry for the wait and I hope you all enjoy this next chapter. Its going to be shorter than previous ones but I hope that's all right. I plan to update the next chapter as soon as possible thank you for your patience. Here's the 37th chapter of X High School. Enjoy._

**Chapter 37**

**Back to Normal?**

The next morning, everyone was dead asleep in thier tents, 10 o'clock in the morning and no one bothered to move, exhausted from the day before. The only thing they cared about was catching up on some much needed sleep. It was 2 in the afternoon before they started coming out of the tents. Richard stretched as he stood outside his tent and groggily made his way over to the picnic table. Victor stuck his head out of the tent and crawled out of it on hands and knees. Kori was the first one out of the girls tent followed by Raven. Tara was still snoring inside the tent, over in the guys section Gar was doing the same and Slade was trying to wake up, defeated he covered his eyes with his arm and tried to get some more sleep. By 5 in the evening everyone was wide awake and active as they were eating dinner around the campfire. Talking and laughing amongst themselves they enjoyed thier time together. An hour later, they hauled the Rumble Cart off the trailer that was attached to the SUV and took it for a wile ride through the woods.

The guys hollered as the Rumble Cart climbed over a hill with its front tires in the air, the engine roaring as they climbed over the peak of the tall hill. They raced down the hill and went deep into the woods as the girls watched on. The engine raged as they barreled towards a cliff, Vic guns it and the truck soars across the gap touching down safely on the other side, though just barely. They race through the forest, darting inbetween trees and climb up another steep embankment, going straight up at a right angle. Vic shifts the truck into low gear and climb the hill. Applying constant pressure to the gas the Geo slowly but surely makes its way up the embankment but as they reach the halfway point, the wheels begin to spin as Vic pushes it to make it up the hill, the engine gives out and the truck rears up and rolls down the embankment the guys hanging on for dear life as the truck tumbled helplessly down the hill, missing all the trees and coming to a rest on its right tires lodged in a ditch.

"Everyone ok?" Vic asked.

"Yeah." said Rich.

"I'm cool." said Gar.

"No harm, no foul." Slade added.

"All right. Let's see if she starts up." Vic said turning the key.

The engine struggled to turn over, Vic gave it several trys before giving up. Kori had to fly down and help pull the truck out of the ditch.

"Thanks Kori." Vic said.

"No problem, you guys might want to judge your distance and angle next time." she told them.

"We will." he said sounding annoyed.

A while later, the guys were down by the lake fishing when Richard got a bite. With adreneline pumping through his body he jumped up and started reeling it in as fast as he could when it finally came in, it was just a little fish. The guys started laughing.

"Congradulations you just caught a fish stick." said Gar.

Richard took it off the hook and tossed it back.

"I dont see you catching anything." he said to Gar.

At that moment Gar's fishing line went flying out almost catapulting him into the river, the guys grabbed onto him as he struggled to reel it in. Rich and Vic each grabbed a hold of the pole and helped him bring it in. They pulled and strained with all thier might as a big mouth bass splashed around on the surface as it fought to win the battle between man and beast. Eventually the four Titans managed to reel that sucker into shore, a 12 pound bass. The guys cheered as they brought it out of the water and let it dangle in mid-air. Rich and Vic high fived each other as Gar took it off the hook and held the fish triumphantly. But this badass bass wouldnt go down with out a fight, the fish slapped Gar across the face repeatedly with its tail and smacking Slade and Rich in the process, before it slipped out of his hands and swam out to open water. The guys looked on stunned, but none more so than Gar. His jaw hung open as the fish disappeared under the surface.

"I just got bitch slapped by a fish!" he cried.

The guys all burst out in laughter. Later in the evening, everyone had gathered around the campfire talking and roasting smores. Kori was resting her head on Rich's shoulder when suddenly a thought came to him.

"Hey guys, what's today's date?" he asked.

"Its the 10th." Vic answered.

"The 10th?...the 10th? AHHH!" he jumped up knocking Kori over sideways.

"Dude, what's the matter?" Vic asked.

"I got a race in Chicago in 2 days!!!" Rich exclaimed.

Everyone's eyes widened in suprise

"What?" said Tara.

"Are you serious?" said Gar.

"And you just remembered this now?" Raven asked.

"Hey give me a break, you try to remember anything after being in the future!" he said.

"Calm down Dick, there's no reason to yell. Although I imagine your dad's going to be pretty pissed." Slade said.

"Oh I'm really looking forward to that...did you just call me Dick?" he asked.

"Yeah." Slade said.

"Rich focus." Raven cut in.

He shook his head, bringing himself to his senses.

"Right, right. I'm sorry my mind's running like 200 miles a minutes here." he said twirling his finger round next to his head.

Kori managed to right herself, sitting back on the log.

"Sorry Kor." Rich said turning back.

"Its ok." she said dusting off her skirt.

Rich sighed and regained his composure.

"All right, let's get this over with." he said taking out his cell phone and began dialing.

Holding the phone up to his ear as it made the connection. Before he could get two words out, the phone exploded with an onslaught of garbled shouting Rich held the phone at arm length with Bruce screaming on the other end.

"Where were you?! I've been trying to contact you for..." the phone rattled in Rich's hand before he closed it.

"That went well." Gar commented.

The phone ringed again, Rich sighed and held it up to his ear once more. This time his dad sound more calm and reserved.

"So what happened?" Bruce asked.

"Its a long story. Listen, is everything ready for Chicago?" Rich asked.

"The crew's been working on the bike for the past several days. They've been busy making upgrades to get it ready in time for the Skycross. Everything's ready on this end, the only thing that's missing is you." Bruce told him.

"Tell the guys I said Thanks. So is there enough time for us to get to Chicago?" Rich asked.

"We can be there in a few hours. But your cutting it real close." Bruce said.

"All right, I'll be there as soon as I can.." Rich said ruffing his hair, he hung up and put the phone away before turning to his friends.

"I'm real sorry guys." He said.

"Its ok, you didnt know." Kori said.

"Yeah but...ugh! I should have known!" he agonized.

"Rich, we got sucked into an alternate timeline. There wasnt much any of us could do." said Slade.

Rich shook his head and grabbed his jacket.

"Yeah I know, I gotta go guys." Rich said.

"Come on, I'll drive you over." said Vic.

"Yeah we'll go with you." Gar said standing up.

"No, you guys stay here. You've been through enough. The flight's gonna be hectic enough." Rich said putting on his jacket.

"Richard's right. I dont think we'd be helping any piling into that plane with him." Raven said.

"Yeah." Slade said.

"We better get going." Vic told them.

"All right." Rich said, Kori came up and put her arms around him.

"I'll see you later." he said.

She kissed his cheek and hugged him tight, Rich hugged her back.

"Be careful." she said.

"I will." he told her before kissing her temple.

"I promise." he said.

"Kay." she said rubbing his arm.

"C'mon man." said Vic.

"See ya guys." Rich told them.

"We'll see you on TV." Raven smiled.

"Show em what ya got." Slade nodded.

"You got it." Rich nodded back.

"Good luck Rich." said Tara.

"Knock em dead." said Gar.

"Count on it." Rich said holding up his fist.

"Rich!" Vic said.

"Catch ya later guys." Rich told them.

The gang waved good bye as Vic and Rich climbed into the Surburban and drove off. They raced down the road at top speed across the many miles back to Wayne Manor on the other side of the city. 20 mins later the SUV pulled into the driveway and around the house. Rich raced up the stairs into the mansion. A few minutes later Vic looked up and saw a jet leaving the mansion.

"Kid's sure got style, give him that much." he said to himself as the jet flew overhead.

A couple of hours later and 40,000 feet up the Wayne Jet flew across the state of Kansas in route to Chicago. Rich reclined in his seat listening to his iPod. When from outside his window Superman flies by, Rich looked and waved at him. The Mighty Blue Defender of Justice smiled and waved back at him before flying off.

While they headed toward Chicago, back home the guys decided to make a trip to town and make a stop at a local bar. While the guys are drinking Gar is up on stage singing.

_I am an arms dealer_

_Fitting you with weapons in the form of words_

_And I dont really care, which side wins_

_As long as the room keeps singing_

_That's just the business I'm in_

_This aint a scene its a god damn arms race!_

_This aint a scene its a god damn arms race_

_This aint a scene its a god damn arms race_

_I'm not a shoulder to cry on but I digress_

_I'm a leading man_

_And the lies I weave are oh so intricate, oh so intricate_

_I'm a leading man_

_And the lies I weave are oh so intricate..._

While Gar was singing Kori pulled up a seat next to Slade & Raven at the bar.

"Hey." she said.

"Hey Kor." he said lifting a bottle in acknowledglement.

"What's up?" Raven said leaning on Slade's shoulder looking like she had a few.

"You think Rich is going to do all right in the race?" Kori asked.

"Kori, if there's one thing I've learned its that Rich will do everything in his power to suceed at something. He'll never cheat but he'll do whatever it takes to be the best." Slade said guesturing with his bottle. Raven leaned heavily on him.

"Right, how many have you two had?" the redhead asked.

"Um..." Slade looked back at Raven.

"I dunno, I lost count. I think maybe 3." he said.

"I think I had about 2." Raven admitted.

Vic sat down in the pit in front of the karoke stage busy hitting on girls. Tara sat a couple tables away from him as she watched Gar perform. She appaluded him as he got off stage.

"That was great Gar!" she told him.

"Thanks." he said.

"Hey how did you kids get in here?" someone yelled.

The gang looked up and saw the bartender looking quite pissed.

"You better hope I dont call the cops!" he said.

The gang immediatly rushed out of the establishment and made a dash for the truck. Peeling out of the parking lot kicking up dust and dirt as they raced off. The bartender ran out to see them take off down the street. Gar and others laughed wildly as the flew down the street. Pulling up to a stop sign gave them a moment to rest. Each of them breathing a sigh of relief.

"Why dont you let me drive?" Kori asked Vic.

Thinking it over for a second, Vic got out of the truck and let Kori take over the driver's seat as he got in the back where she was sitting. Which was a good choice considering she's the only one that hasnt drank. As Richard's plane touched down in Chicago the gang pulled in to a local bowling alley. Time for some drunk bowling. The gang walked into the bowling alley and bought shoes. Sitting down in thier lane, Raven put one bowling shoe on but kept a regular one on also. Vic managed to put both of his bowling shoes on and so did the rest. Vic went to get his bowling ball, coming back he was the first one up. Gar typed thier names into the electronic scoreboard. Vic scooped up the ball in his hand, studying the pins he takes aim and fires.

BLAM!

He mowed the pins down in a powerful strike.

"All right!" he said pumping his fist.

"Yeah! Good job Vic!" Kori said.

"Nice one Vic." Tara said as she made her way up.

"Thanks dudes!" he said sitting down between Gar and Kori.

Tara picked up her ball and judged the pins, she swung her arm back and released the ball. The mulitcolored speckled ball rolled along the edge of the gutter and knicked one pin on the end taking it out. The bar dropped and reset the pins. Tara pouted as she waited for the ball to return taking it up she takes another shot with the same result. Only this time she knocked over 2 pins. Disappointed she took her seat next to Gar as Kori went up. On her first time up, she knocked down five pins and then on her second time missed completely with a gutterball. Gar's turn was up next. Meanwhile in Chicago Bruce and Rich settle into thier hotel room for the night. After Gar got gutterballs on both tries it was Vic's turn again as he stared down the pins, when he tossed the ball in the air and somehow landed two lanes away before crashing into some pins. The gang laughed uproarously as others looked on in shock and amusement. With some of them applauding at the outlandish achievement. Vic held up his arms in victory. Slade was up in his own lane along with Raven. When Slade went to throw the ball he slipped and landed on his back as the ball went into the gutter and barreled on down to the end. While he didnt score any bowling points he managed to score some sympathy points with his girlfriend and friends. She went over to help him off the floor still iniebriated from the earlier. As she and Vic helped him back to his chair she rubbed his forehead in concern.

"You ok?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. My legs took off without me." he stated. Vic laughed.

"You crack me up dude." he said patting Slade's back.

"I think he cracked the floor too." Raven said looking at where he fell.

Fortuntanly the floor survived, Slade on the other hand.

"I'm gonna kick that floor's ass." Slade said. Everyone laughed at his remark.

While Slade comtemplated going to war with the floor Raven took over for him and finished up his turn. Too drunk to do a regular bowl, she squats down and does a granny roll. The ball travels down the center of the lane slowly and made a strike. Raven jumped in the air triumphantly and made her way back to Slade and the others.

"Nice shot kid." he said.

Vic pats Slade's shoulder to get his attention.

"Come on, we're going to Denny's." he said.

A while later after changing out of thier shoes they all pile into the SUV, Kori drives. Before they leave one of them realized that Raven was still wearing her one bowling shoe. Taking off the shoe Kori jumps out of the truck and runs back inside retrieving Raven's other shoe. Journeying down the road, they pull into a local Denny's and unleash the terror of drunk teenagers on a 24 hour diner. The guys rush inside and race to the seating area and taking several of the tables as adults begin to leave not wanting to put up with thier antics. The waitresses sigh having to put up with this all the time. One of them approached the group and asked them what they want. They all ordered their meals some of the biggest they could get and the waitress walked off. After she walked off, Gar started throwing straws at Slade from another table as he retailiated and Vic joined in throwing other stuff. The girls went to the other side. They take thier battle to the center of the aisle where Vic tackles Gar to the ground and pretends to beat him up. Slade pushed him off of Gar, Vic retaliates by putting Slade in a headlock and dragging him up the aisle with Gar jumping on Vic's back as they fell to the floor with all three of them yelling and laughing. Tara sat on Kori's lap as they watched the guys antics.

"Ow! Let go of my foot!" yelled Gar.

"Well stop choking me!" yelled Vic.

"Get the hell off me Vic!" Slade yelled.

"Ow!" went Gar.

The girls laughed as the waitress came back with thier plates.

"You guys can stop killing each other now, our plates are here." said Raven.

Vic threw Gar off and pushed down on Slade's head getting up. Slade and Gar got up and made thier way back to thier tables. It was about that time Raven's cell phone went off.

"Hello?"

"Hey Raven."

"Oh hey Rich. Where are you?" she asked.

"We're in Chicago. How are the guys doing?" he asked.

"Oh thier doing all right, we're sitting at Denny's right now." she said.

"So you guys do anything tonight?" he asked.

Raven just smiled. "Nah, nothing too special. I'll tell you about it later."

"That's cool, I'm about to go back to bed. Tell the guys I said 'hi' and I'll see them when I get back." Rich said.

"I'll be sure to tell them. Good luck Rich. We'll be rootin for you." she said.

"Thanks. I'll talk to you later." he said.

"All right, bye."

"Bye." he told her before hanging up.

"Who was that?" asked Gar.

"It was Rich, he was just wondering what we were doing." Raven said.

"Did you tell him?" asked Vic.

Raven shook his head. "No."

"Sure hope he does all right tomorrow." Kori said.

"He's gonna need all the help he can get." said Slade.

_Author's Note: All right as I mentioned earlier, the race will take place in the next chapter. I know this probably isnt what you expect for a follow-up. I'm sorry if this didnt seem to good, I hope everyone liked it. I just wanted to get this out of the way so I can get on with the race. Let me know what you think. _

_Please Review. _


	38. Chicago Skycross

_Author's Note: God am I tired, I've been working on this chapter for 3 days which is pretty good for me. It feels like I've been workin on this forever. Anyway here's the long awaited 38th chapter of X High School. Hope everyone likes this. This chapter is dedicated to my good friend Comixfan1224. She's awesome and I know that she'll enjoy this. _

**Chapter 38**

**The Chicago Skycross**

The next morning Richard had awoken in his hotel room after getting dressed he made his way downstairs to breakfast. Not long after that he left for the stadium. Stepping onto the track for the first time, Richard surveyed the arena. Other riders were out praticing, he watched as one jumped over the hill in front him. The racer soared past in the air and landed smoothly.

"Not bad." Rich said.

"I see that you finally made it." came an all too familar voice.

He turned around and saw Roy coming towards him.

"Its been a long time." he said.

"Not too long." Rich said.

"Relax, I'm on your side now. The only rivarly we have now is on the field." Roy said.

Rich stood there unconvinced.

"I didnt think you'd make it." Roy said.

"Yeah well, you can say I got tied up in something." Rich said.

"Whatever." Roy said.

"So who's the new guy?" Rich asked turning his attention to the other rider.

"I dont know, I havent had the chance to meet him yet." said Roy.

The two men walked over to where the blue clad racer was sitting on his bike. The rider removed his helmet as they approached. The boy had dark hair and blue eyes.

"That was a pretty badass run out there." Rich said.

"Thanks." said the rider.

"I'm Rich Grayson and this is Roy Harper."

"Conner Kent, I'm from Metropolis." he said.

"We're from San Antholas, California." Roy said.

"Cool. So you guys been out here long?" Conner asked.

"I just got in last night." Rich said.

"I've been here since Sunday." Roy answered.

"So where are you crashing at?" Rich asked.

"I'm staying at a hotel not too far from here." Conner told them.

"That's cool." Roy said.

"There you are." came a female voice.

The guys look up and see a couple of girls headed towards them. A dark haired girl and a blonde both of them dressed in red shirts and jeans.

"Hey." Conner said as the blonde haired girl came up to him and put her arms around him.

"Guys this is my girlfriend Cassie." Conner said.

"Hey!" Cassie smiled.

"Hey." said Roy.

"How's it going?" said Rich.

"Conner's been on the racing circut for a while. This is my cousin Donna." Cassie introduced.

"Hey Donna."

"Rich!" Donna said putting her arms around him.

"I havent seen you in a long time. How are you?" she asked.

"Haha. I'm doing good Donna and you?" Rich said.

"Doing great. I came up here to watch my brother race and I ran into Cassie and Conner." she said.

"That's cool." he said.

"How have you been since the crash?" she asked.

"Aw dont worry about that, that was a long time ago. I've been racing for a while now." he said.

"Well I'm glad your doing better." she said hugging him.

"Who's your friend?" she asked.

"This is Roy Harper." Rich said.

When he looked back he noticed that Roy was being unusually quiet.

"Dude?" Rich said.

He patted Roy's chest with the back of his hand. He just stood there transfixed looking at Donna.

"Dude." Rich hit him again. Roy snapped out of it and shook his head.

"Uh, what?" Roy said, he stood there and chuckled rubbed the back of his neck. Donna just smiled back at him.

The flame haired teen cleared his throat.

"Yeah, well uh, ahem. Uh, it was real nice meeting you." Roy said.

"Yeah, you too." said Donna.

"Uh, I got a...few things to take care of. I'll see you later." he said quickly excusing himself.

He could feel his face turning red as he walked off.

"He's a wierd one." said Cassie.

"Oh lay off, I think he's cute." Donna said.

Rich just shook his head. He had to admit it was kind of fun to see someone as confident as Roy faulter. The guys heard an engine roar over thier shoulder and saw another race soar over the hill behind them. The rider traveled for a considerable distance before touching down on the next hill, kicking up dirt as he made his way off the track.

"Whoa, who's that?" Rich asked.

"That's Owen Mercer, he's one of the up and coming racers. Dude's from Australia, they call him The Captain." explained Conner.

Owen rode up to them wearing a light blue uniform with navy accents. He removed his helmet. Owen had spiked brown hair and and bluish-gray eyes.

"How's it going?" he said.

"Great. You totally nailed that jump." Rich told him.

"Yeah, but I could have done better. I'm Owen Mercer." he introduced.

"We were just talking about you." said Conner.

"Your the new kid, Conner Kent. The kid from Metropolis." Owen said.

"Yeah, how did you know?" Conner asked.

"I've read about your in sports magazines, your pretty good kid." Owen commented.

"Uh, thanks." said Conner.

"No problem. And your Rich Grayson right?" Owen asked.

"Yeah I am. Its nice to meet you." Rich said shaking hands.

"Likewise. I've heard that your good, real good." Owen said.

"So what brings you up here?" Rich asked.

"I transfered over here from the Austrailain League to race up here in the AMA. I was hoping to put my skills to the test up here and see if I was any good compared to you guys. Hope you guys dont mind a lil competition." he joked.

Rich smiled. "I think we can take you."

"I look foward to it, good luck mates." Owen said.

"You too." Rich nodded.

"See ya dude." Conner waved.

With that Owen rode back to his trailer.

"Owen Mercer? That guy's one of the best in the league!" Rich told them.

"I know, should be fun bringing him down!" Conner grinned.

"Yeah." Rich laughed high fiving.

"Hey man I gotta jet I'll see ya later." said Rich.

"All right later man." Conner said reving his bike.

He takes off on a wheelie as he heads back to his trailer, Cassie sighs and trails after him with Donna waving as she left. Rich smiled as he turned and left. As he was walking a guy driving a John Deere Gator rode up beside him.

"Hey you need a ride?" he asked.

"No thanks, I'm just going up here." Rich said.

"All right." the man said and drove off.

Rich made his way up to an orange trailer where an old friend of his was station. Walking up to the trailer he saw a guy in an orange jumpsuit working on a bike.

"How's it goin?" Rich said.

The boy looked up from his bike.

"Rich!" he said putting down his tools and gave his friend a pat on the back.

"How's it going dude?" Rich asked.

"Just fine and you?" said Grant.

Grant Emerson is one of Rich's friends on the racing circuit. They've known each other since they raced together in Houston. At their last meeting Grant gave him one of his uniforms to go with Rich's newly aquired KTM motorcycle with its signature orange paintjob.

"So what have you been up to?" Rich asked.

"Oh you know a race here and there same junk new day." Grant said.

"Yeah. Any of the guys here?" Rich asked.

"Their bound to be somewhere. I saw Garth on the way in here. He shouldn't be too hard to spot with that big blue trailer of his. I dont know where the others are though." Grant said wiping his hands on a rag.

"All right thanks man." Rich said patting his shoulder.

"Yeah. Catch ya later." Grant said.

"See ya." Rich said as he ran off.

During the afternoon Rich managed to catch up with all of his motocross buddies. Later that evening the riders had a party in one of the hotel rooms. And brought with them plenty of girls and booze. The guys were partying and moshing and the music was pumping over the stereos. Some guys were over on the couch drinking while others like Rich were dancing with girls.

_Hey dont write yourself off yet_

_Its only in your head you feel left out_

_Or looked down on_

_Just try your best, try everything you can _

_And dont worry what they tell themselves_

_When your away_

_It just takes some time, little girl_

_Your in the middle of the ride_

_Everything (everything) will be just fine_

_Everything (everything) will be alright _

_(alright)_

Rich danced with Donna while right next to them Conner danced with Cassie. Garth was dancing with another blonde haired girl while Grant danced with a burnette. Roy came across the room setting down his beer and walked over to Rich and Donna.

"You mind if I cut in?" he asked.

Rich looked at him for a second before deciding.

"Go ahead." Rich said backing off.

"Thanks." Roy told him.

"Hey remember me?" he said to Donna.

"Yeah your that guy from earlier." she said.

Rich left them to be alone, stepping out onto the balcony getting some fresh air. Breathing in the night air, he looked over the Chicago skyline.

"Pretty crazy in there isnt it?" said Conner.

He looked back and saw Conner and Cassie arm in arm.

"Yeah." Rich said.

"You mind if we come out here?" Conner asked.

"No go ahead." Rich told them.

"Thanks." Conner said as they rested on the balcony.

"No problem" Rich said.

"This your first time in Chicago?" Conner asked.

"Nah, I've been up here several times before." Rich told him.

"I've been up here once before." Conner said.

"This is my first time up here. That smoke in there was getting pretty heavy." Cassie told em.

"Yeah I know, some of them are doing drugs in there." Rich said.

"Yeah, just ignore them. Its the best thing to do." Conner replied.

"Its nothing new. Pretty stupid really." Cassie said.

"Yeah." agreed Rich and Conner.

"You think they'd know better on the night before the race." Rich said.

"Look who's talking?" Conner joked.

Rich chuckled, a half empty bottle sat next to him on the ledge.

"So what about you have you ever..."

"Hell no." said Conner.

"No way. If he did I'd have to kick his butt." Cassie told em.

"She'll do it too." he said. Rich laughed.

"What about you?" Conner asked.

"My dad would sooner shove my own head inside my ass." Rich said.

And just where is Bruce Wayne? He's uptown attending a Cubs game.

"I better get going, I'm gonna need all the sleep I can get." Rich said excusing himself.

"All right, see ya tomorrow." said Conner.

"You have a good night." Cassie said.

"You too." Rich said as he left.

Richard made his way past the crowd and manuvered his way to the door passing Donna on the way out.

"You leaving?" she yelled.

"Yeah I'm gonna get some sleep." he told her.

"OK, I'll you tomorrow." Donna said.

"Good night Donna."

"Night." she said as he left.

He left the hotel building and drove back across town to the one he was staying at. Seeing that Bruce wasnt in, he changed clothes and went to bed. Fortunately for everyone the race wasnt until tomorrow evening. Of which all the racers took full advantage especially Rich who slept in till 10:30.

The racers spent the rest of the day praticing leading up to the big event later that evening. The racers got thier gear ready for the race. Conner changed into a blue uniform with red sleeves and the Superman logo on his chest. The back of his uniform read "_Kent 16_". Putting on a pair of red shin guards and a red and yellow chest protector with the Fox Racing brand logo. Conner grabbed his red helmet and goggles with the blue strap and walked out of the trailer. Meanwhile Rich changed into a brand new black uniform with a blue bird symbol on his chest. And a blue stripe that went down each sleeve, with blue streaks on his pants. And the new uniform number "_Grayson 34"_. Richard strapped on his blue shin guards and wrist and elbow pads and grabbed his black motorcycle helmet and blue strapped goggles. On the other side Grant Emerson got into his orange uniform with blue streaks on the sleeves and pants with a red radioactive symbol on his chest. And the name _Damage Inc._ The back of his uniform read _Emerson 45. _He put on his blue chest protector, shin, elbow & wrist guards. And grabbed his blue helmet & gray goggles on the way out. Roy changed into his red and gold uniform with _"Harper 47"_ on the back of his uniform, putting on his yellow protective gear and grabbing his red helmet on the way out. Another racer Cody Driscoll changed into his touquoise uniform with navy highlights and grabbed his gear. Garth Riptide put on his blue uniform and grabbed his gear. As racers jumped on thier bikes and rode to the starting gate, some of them carrying their protective gear with them. Rich was already at the starting gate in the center putting on his gloves and making final adjustments as the other riders pulled up beside him. Roy and Garth were on both sides of him as Grant, Cody, Conner & Owen took thier places. Owen wore a light blue jumpsuit with black highlights on the shoulders and legs. The number on the front of his vest was 188. The stadium lights swept across the arena as the riders got ready.

"Good evening race fans and welcome Soldier Field in downtown Chicago. As we get ready for the Alltell Chicago Skycross 500. Let's meet tonight's competition." the announcer said.

Across the stadium, the racing event logo appeared on the mega screen introducing the racers. Conner's image and stats appeared on screen.

"I'm Conner Kent #16, Invincible Racing. Metropolis, Illinois." he said.

The next racer appeared on screen.

"I'm Richard Grayson, #34. Wayne Factory Racing. San Antholas, California."

"Roy Harper #47. Harper-Queen Racing, San Antholas, Ca."

"Grant Emerson #45 Damage Inc. Atlanta, Georgia."

"Garth Riptide #12, Riptide Racing. Atlantic City, NJ."

"Cody 'Risky' Driscoll #38 Risk Racing. Denver, Co."

"'Captain' Owen Mercer #188, Storm Guard Racing. Melbourne, Austraila."

"Rex Nordeman #100, Black Flag Racing. Gary, Indiana. Defending Supercross champion."

As the rest of the racers introduced themselves, Rich looked across the way to where Rex was sitting in his red and black uniform. Nordeman saw him from the corner of his eye and looked back at him.

"Your going down Grayson." he said.

"We'll see about that." Rich said.

"Not if I take him out first." said Roy.

"In your dreams Harper." Rich told him.

"Racers start your engines!" the announcer said.

The riders kick started thier engines and revved them up as the boardman help up the 30 second sign. The roar of the engines filled the air, as the audience started to cheer in anticipation. Back home in San Antholas, the gang huddled around the TV as the race was about to start. A moment later the boardman came back onto the field holding up the 15 second sign, the racers reared up on thier bikes as they stood ready. The boardman ran off the track as the last remaining second dwindled down. Everyone was on edge, the entire arena fell silent. All that could have been heard was the heavy breathing and thunderous heartbeat. Rich prepped himself as best he could as a bead of sweat trickled down his face. The light went green the gate dropped, wheels spin in the dirt and thier off. Richard and Conner are the first ones out of the gate, the other racers soon followed. Numbers 16 & 34 race down the track building up speed as they make it over the first jump. Owen Mercer wasnt far behind them and closed the gap as he made it over the jump followed by the rest of the pack. Roy and Rex battled as they made thier way into the first turn elbowing each other trying to knock each other off. Cody Driscoll and others made it through the first turn and across the track. Conner and Richard are neck and neck as they battle for first place. The two jump over the next hill and touch down on the hill after it. Thier off to a fantastic start as the rest of the pack tried to catch up. Roy punched Rex and did a wheeling pulling away from the defending world champion. Roy jumped past the pack as made his way up to second on the outside of the pack. Passing Cody Driscoll and the other racers with ease. Richard managed to gain a very slight lead over Conner coming around the next turn on the inside. But then Roy suprised them making it over the next jump and landing right next to them.

"What the hell?" said Rich.

"Where did he come from?" said Conner.

Roy poured it on and leaves the two of them in the dust.

"Your not getting away that easily." Richard said as he hit the throttle and chased after him.

The other racers started to catch up to Conner and were beginning to pass him.

"I dont think so." said Conner as he laid the throttle down and chased after Roy and Richard.

He jumped over the next hill and soared in the air. He tilted the bike in the air before touching down in the dirt and attempted to close the gap between him and 2nd place.

"He aint getting off that easy." said Cody as he too hit the throttle and sailed over the hill clearing the next one and caught up to Conner. The other racers follow suit.

A flurry of multicolored racers flew over the hill as the race became more competitive. Racers started to overtake each other, one racer went off course and crashed into the wall head first. Another racer was launched off his bike going over a hill and tumbled across the ground. His bike cartwheeled slamming into the ground end over end before coming to a rest on its back. The downed racer slid across the ground on his back. A white racer nosedived as he crashed on top of it hill and tumbled over with the bike landing on top of him. Another one a blue and yellow racer smashed into the downed bike and sent both rider and bike spiraling through the air crashing hard at the foot of the hill. Others divert around it and avoid the destroyed bike by inches. As the pack thinned out rescue crews came onto the scene to help out the downed riders. It was turning into a bloodbath. Rex smiled taking a look back at his handywork. He revved his engine and jumped over the next hill to take over forth place. But he soon found that forth place will be a battle field when tangleing with the likes of Grant Emerson. The two riders trade punches. Meanwhile up front Conner and Richard continued to battle for second place. But they had other problems. Other racers had started to break away from the pack and caught up to Conner and Richard. Isaiah Crocker and Cody Driscoll were on either side of the blue and black riders. They headed up the next hill. The four jumped in the air but Cody and Isaiah took the lead over Conner and Richard placing them down in third place. Isaiah went to the outside and gained a little ground over Cody. Crocker revs it as he raced over the next hill breaking the tie and putting him in second place.

Roy Harper was in first place, followed by Isaiah in second, Cody close in third with Conner and Richard tied in forth, not far behind them was Grant Emerson & Rex Nordeman tied in fifth. Everyone's going all out. Rex jabbed Grant in the side as the orange rider swung his arm at Rex. The defending champion kicked at Grant's bike. The orange machine staggered back and forth fortunately Grant held his balance and continued to fight off Rex. The two of them traded rib punches as they raced down the straightaway. They came up to the next hill, as they raced up the hill Rex jumped off his bike and kicked Grant as hard as he could and sent the teen crashing nose first. He tumbled from his bike and hit the ground, his motorcycle ruined. He punched the ground feriously.

"Damn him!" he yelled.

Rex smiled as he touched down and continued the race. Owen Mercer the kid from Austrailia came up behind him having seen the whole thing.

"Not cool dude!" he said.

The rider came up from behind and elbowed Rex in the stomach as hard as he could.

"Why you!" Rex shouted.

"Why dont you pick on someone your own caliber!" Owen said.

Mercer popped a wheelie and sped off down the track. He blazed past Rich and the other racers catching up to Roy with relative ease. Rex growled and accepted the Aussie's challenge, he pushed his way through the pack to catch up with Mercer but not before taking a shot at Rich Grayson by ramming his bike into him.

"Get off me!" Rich yelled.

He rammed Rich again, the front wheel jerked and nearly upsetted Grayson's bike. He pushed Nordeman off but it was no use.

"I got him!" Conner yelled.

Coming hit the brakes slowing him down enough to get behind Rich and pulled up next to Rex and gave him a sharp punch in the ribs. Rex winced and swung his arm at Conner. Conner pulled away to avoid him and rode up on the inside edge of the track. Rich them rammed his bike into Rex having been distracted by Conner. The Metropolis Kid then came in and rammed him on the other side.

"Grrr, I'm really getting sick and tired of you two!" Rex said.

Back home the gang continued watching the race.

"Come on Rich, dont be stupid." said Vic.

"Focus on the race!" said Slade.

Rich looked up and saw 3 racers go past him. He cursed inwardly and hit the throttle and continued the race. At the same time Rex and Conner did the same. Richard twisted the throttle building up speed as he leaped over a hill and landed on the next chaseing after the other racers, he had fallen behind fighting Rex. None of that mattered anymore all that mattered now was winning that trophy, he hit the throttle again as he flew over the next hill landing at the base of the one after it and rocketed down the straightaway weaving in and out passing other racers. They came up to a large hill with Rex and Conner not far behind him. The racers climbed the biggest hill, Rich hit the nitro he popped a wheelie as he flew up the hill and went airborne. People were on their feet as the black and blue KTM soared several hundred feet. This was it, this was the moment. All eyes on him Rich did a handstand one hand on the handlebar the other on his seat as he flew through the air. The crowd cheered as he came back down on his bike and landed nailing the jump.

"Show off." Rex scoffed as he came up to the hill.

"When in Rome..." he said as he raced up the hill.

Soaring up into the air Rex put his legs over the handlebars and stretched his body all the way back, with his hands on the handlebars. Executing a perfect Coffin manuver, the audience cheered as he returned to his seated postion on the bike before landing.

Richard raced up the track passing Cody Driscoll taking third place. There was just a few laps to go. Richard had to act fast if he had any hopes of catching up to Owen and Roy who were in first and second place respectively. Rex was hot of Richard's heels popped a wheelie letting off a nitro boost as he chased after Richard up the track. Roy and Owen were still well ahead of them. The two jumped over the hill. There's the white flag, one lap to go! Richard floored it and flew over the hill as the flagman continued waving the white flag as the racers went past. He was soon followed by Rex. Conner had picked up some ground and was catching up to Rex as the rest of the pack flew over the hill. They went into the next turn, Owen still in first place with Roy in close second. Roy hit the throttle and attempted to pass Owen. He saw him coming and blocks him over they go over the next hill. The two land in sequence and race up the hill neck and neck. Rich was still too far back to catch up to them. Rex passed him laughing. Grayson poured on the juice as Conner came close to passing him. Maxxing out the engine he flew over the dirt course taking turn after turn, Rex was still a way's ahead of him. Rich sees his opportunity and hit the nitros once more and flew over his adversary's head on the next hill. Rex looked back and saw him fly past. He pounds his fist on the handlebar and poured it all on to chase after him. Rich's engine was starting to overheat from the excertion. He didnt care, he had to catch up to those two. Coming up the next hill, Owen and Roy were right in sight. Rex maxxed out his engine to catch up to them. Thier coming up to the second to last hill. The three jump Rich being the farthest back gets the most air. Which couldnt have happened at a worse time. Roy and Owen were just about to touch down then suddenly Richard landed inside of the two racers. It was down to the wire as they raced neck and neck to the finish line in a three way fight to the finish. All three of them hit the throttle, pouring the last bit of energy into their engines and went for one last jump. The three motorcycles flew through the air in slow motion with the checkered flag waving. Richard was the farthest ahead by just a few inches. Time sped up and the three touched down. Roy was the first one down followed by Rich and Owen they flew up the track and skidded to a hault as the rest of the pack flew over the hill finishing the race.

It was over. Rich removed his helmet and wiped the sweat from his face as the last remaining racers crossed the finish line. The judges weren't quite sure who won the race. And looked at the image from a 360 degree angle, even from the ground. They had trouble disciphering who had won the race. Zooming in on the image examining every last detail. From one angle it looked as though Richard had won but then from another it looked like Owen did. The judges studied the image for several minutes while Richard, Roy and Owen waited anxiously for the results. The judges came to a decision.

"After examining the video several times. The judges have made thier decision. Coming within 2 inches of each other. The winner of the Alltell Chicago Skycross 500 is..."

"...Rich Grayson!" the judge announced.

The stadium erupted Rich threw up his arms triumphantly.

"Yes!" He yelled.

Owen patted patted Rich on the shoulder.

"Congradulations dude."

"Thanks." Rich whispered.

Back in San Antholas, Kori screamed and hugged Vic. Everyone in the house cheered wildly, Raven threw her arms around Slade and kissed him and yelled in celebration. Gar and Tara hugged each other, she leaned into him sitting up on the couch kissing his cheek and burying her head in his chest. The rest of the racers applauded Rich as he did a doughnut in celebration saluting to the crowd before making his way up the ramp to claim his trophy. Owen clapped as he watched Rich take the trophy and the kiss on the cheek from the trophy girl.

"You did good mate." he said clapping.

Rich thrusted his trophy above his head with both hands. Roy stood in place with his arms crossed. He smiled and shook his head.

"He's good I'll give him that much." he said.

Rex threw his helmet on the ground and took off his gloves when somebody tapped his shoulder. He turned around and saw 5 guys standing before him.

"Remember us?" said Grant.

The world champion smiled weakly and let out a faint chuckle before Grant grabbed him and is pulled off screen to the sound of punches being landed and Rex screaming as the guys beat him up.

As Richard got down from the stage he was met by Conner.

"Hey congradulations man, you ruled tonight." he said.

"Thanks Con. So what are you going to do now that the race is over?" Rich asked as they walked and talked.

"Well, as for me I'm going to stay here and party another night. What about you? You staying?" Conner asked.

"I dont know if I can." Rich told him.

"Well if you change your mind. You know where to find us." Conner said shaking hands with Rich.

"Yeah thanks man." said Rich.

"Conner!" Cassie said as she ran up to him.

"Hey Cass." he said hugging her.

"I'm sorry you lost." she said.

"Ah, Dont worry about it. I'll get em next time." he said.

"Congradulations Rich." Cassie said.

"Thanks." he said.

"So are you heading out tonight?" she asked.

"More than likely." he said as they carried thier bikes back to thier trailers.

"What happened to that Rex guy?" Conner asked.

Walking past the trailers Rich saw something out of the corner of his eye and stopped.

"I think I know." he said.

The two teens looked back and saw what Rich was looking at. Rex Nordeman had been duct taped spread eagle to the side of his trailer. Cassie let out a snicker and they all busted out laughing. Grant and the other racers walked up to them.

"I see you noticed our handywork." Grant said tossing a roll of tape in the air and catching it.

"That's pretty good guys." Conner said.

The teens high five each other while Rex continued to hang there.

_Author's Note: So what did you think of that? I've been beating my head against the wall trying to write this chapter. The first 8 pages was easy but, damn. I hope everyone liked this let me know what you think. Sorry this chapter is so long. _

_Please review. _

_Green Gallant. _


	39. Gridiron Gladiators

_Author's Note: All right, I'm back. I wanted to get this chapter out of the way before I head back to school this Tues. I have no idea how busy I'm going to be. Anyway like the title suggests this is a football chapter. And its dedicated to my football-lovin' friends Comixfan1224, Dolphinluver21 & The Dying Fire. Hope you like it girls, here's the 39th chapter of X High School. Gridiron Gladiators. Enjoy. _

**Chapter 39**

**Gridiron Gladiators**

Over the course of a few days the Titans had been ambushed by enemy agents, hurled through time, introduced to thier children, fought a war of apocolypitc porportions, saved the city, sent back to the present and for one racer, made a mad dash to Chicago and competed in a grueling all out race. And now after days of non-stop action they finally return to school. Exhausted from their camping trip, the Titans readily accept returning to thier normal lives. They'll need it to recover from all they've been through.

"I never thought I'd be glad to be back in school." said Rich as he walked down the hallway with his friends.

"You said it dude. And I dont even like school." said Gar.

"Who does?" asked Vic.

"Well, I do." said Raven.

The guys looked back at her and groan in annoyance.

"Oh lighten up guys. You should be glad we made it back period." Slade said as they turned a corner.

"Yeah, that's true. With all we've been through. Its a miracle we're even here." Rich said.

Kori and Tara walked silently along with them. As they made it up to the double doors at the end of one hallway. They opened the door to see the hallway lined with students cheering. Stepping through the threshold, peers pull him on through and began laying hands on Richard patting him across the back as he made his way through the hallway. Students shouting up congradulations, heralding their fellow student's victory in Chicago. He smiled broadly as they showered him with praise. Confetti rains down upon him as the students cheer pounding Rich across the back and giving him high fives. Several girls latched thier arms around him as he made his way down. How he loved the spotlight. His friends followed not far behind as the hallway flooded, swallowed in the teenage tide. Hundreds of arms found thier way around Rich congradulating him on his astounding victory. The senior is the man of the hour. Students picked him up off the ground and carried him on thier shoulders to the edge of the hallway, he had to duck when they passed through the doorway. The teens carried thier hero up another hallway.

As they rushed through the next hallway they were met by the principle and faculty.

"All right, that's enough. Put him down." Principle Roth ordered.

The students did as they were told and put Richard down.

"Now get to class." she said.

Students went thier seperate ways congradulating Rich on the way out. Slade and the rest of his friend soon joined up with him. Principle Roth smiled as she walked up to him.

"Great job last night." she said placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks." he said.

"Better get to class." she told them.

"Right." he said.

Principle Roth smiled and nodded then made her way past them.

"Catch ya later guys." he said.

"Yeah." said Slade.

"See ya Rich." said Kori.

"See ya dudes." Gar told them as he and Tara left.

The teens went thier seperate ways. A while later Rich, Slade and Raven were sitting in Mad Mod's...I mean Mr. Hilldale's history class.

"Right then, welcome back Dicky. Bloomin' performance in Chicago ya did last night, saw it t'all on the tellie. Bloody good job and t'all that. Bloody amazin' things they can do with a motorcycle. Right then, today class we'll be studyin' the Chernobyl Disaster of ninety eighty-six. This was one of the worst nuclear disasters in history. Start taking notes, you will be tested on this. The incident happened on April 26, 1986 at 1:23 am at the Chernobyl Power Plant in Pripyat, Ukraine. That's spelled p-r-i-p-y-a-t, Ukraine. The forth reactor at the power plant exploded which triggered a chain reaction and sent a plume of radioactive fallout into the atmosphere and covered the entire region. This plume lingered over most of the Soviet Union, Europe and even the East Coast of the United States. Now you can see why so serious. Any questions so far?" he asked.

Rich raised his hand.

"Yes?" he pointed at Rich.

"What caused the explosion?"

"The explosion was largely due to human error. They were doing some tests the night before and was running the reactor at half power. Which was a mistake. A near by power station was knocked offline and were told to discontinue the tests. Since the electricity was needed to power near by cities and towns. Later that night an untrained skeleton crew restarted the test. As they were told they ran the reactor at even less power than before. However no one told them the test had been postponed. The power dropped to rapidly which caused a containment breach. The crew was oblivious and did little to fix it. They continued with the experiment as the reactor grew more unstable. Despite this there were no warnings on the reactor's controls. It all went to hell in a handbasket from there. They tried to shut down the reactor but were unable to. At 1:23 am the reactor overheated and jumped to 10 times its power. The massive steam buildup triggered the explosion." Mr. Hilldale concluded.

The bell rang and students jumped up from their seats.

"That's all for today, we'll continue with the aftermath of Chernobyl tomorrow." he said sitting down at his desk.

As students walked through the hallways the principle's voice came over the school's PA system.

"Attention students, dont forget about the big football game tonight. As the Xavier Titans take on the Jump City Panthers tonight at 7. There will be pre-game pep rally to celebrate the first game of the season. Show your support tonight at Marv Wolfman Field." Principle Roth said over the speaker.

Students made thier way to class. Rich and Roy went to Mr. Blud's science class, while Gar and Tara went to Dr. Light's english class. Kori and Raven went to Mrs. Mayai's clothing and textile class. And Vic and Slade went to Auto Mechanic Lab. In English class Gar walked into Dr. Light's room thinking back on what becomes of his teacher in the future he stopped and turned to his teacher.

"Hey um, Dr. Light?"

"Yeah?"

"I just wanted to say...sorry for all the crap I gave you." he said.

"Apology accepted. Take your seat." Light told him.

"All right." he said.

A while later it was lunch time, most of the students sat out on the front lawn of the school while others sat at picnic tables under shade trees. Rich made his way across the lawn with a tray of food when he crashed into another kid.

"Why dont you watch where your f&# going?!" an underclassman yelled angerly.

He kid he ran into was short in stature, he had tall spiked black hair with red highlights in the front. He wore black eyeliner. He had on a red sleeveless shirt with the name Sum 41 and wore baggy jeans with holes in the knees and a leather jacket.

"I didnt see you dude." Rich told him.

"Well you better watch we're your going, I'll cut you next time." he threatened.

Who the hell does this kid think he is?

"Who the f!$ do you think you are kid?" Rich asked.

"Tim Drake bitch. What'cha gonna do about it?"

"You really wanna mess with me?" Richard told him.

"Question is do you want to mess with me?" Tim shot back.

Richard towered over Tim, he looked at the twerp unimpressed. The senior scoffed

"Your not worth it." he said and walked off.

"Yeah that's right. Walk away bitch, I aint afraid of you!" Tim said taking a few steps after him.

"Jack-off." Rich muttered as he walked off.

"I showed that bitch, I own this school." Tim said giving himself props as he turned and walked over to his table.

Rich sat down at his own table next to his friends muttering to himself what a jerk that kid was.

"You all right?" Kori asked.

"Yeah, some little punk-ass freshman gave me static for running into him. Whatever." he said.

On the other side of the lawn Tim sat down next to his friends Lonnie Machin and Tad Ryerstad. Lonnie had short brown hair and gold eyes. Lonnie wore a crimson shirt with a circle-A symbol for Anarchy. and wore black pants. Tad had red hair and green eyes and wore a hand-me-down yellow shirt with blue jacket and pants.

"So are we down for tonight?" Tim asked.

"Oh yeah. We got everything we need for tonight." said Tad.

"Those guys wont know what hit them." Lonnie smiled.

Tim smiled malaciously and nodded a sinster chuckle escaped his lips.

A few hours later people were getting ready for the football game. As Slade was shopping for groceries, a group of teens had a row of soda bottles set up like bowling pins. One of them was holding up a frozen turkey. Slade watched in intrest. A guy with a mop of curly brown hair took the frozen bird and threw it down the aisle. The turkey slid across the floor and crashed into the soda bottles unleashing a shower of fizz and cola. Several of the bottle spun around wildly shooting pop in all directions. The teens ran as soon as they went off and nearly trip over Slade who cleared out of there just as fast. The turkey bowling teens took off like streaks of lightning out of the store and nearly crash through the automatic doors on the way out. Slade ran out there with them not wanting to get blamed. Before the store manager could do anything about it, one section of the store was covered in soda.

A while later Slade arrived at the football stadium with the package of Gatorade he intended to buy. The boys were getting into uniform putting on thier gear. Slade made it to his locker and started changing his clothes. Meanwhile outside students put the finishing touches on thier floats for the big celebration, it was the season opener tonight and Xavier is playing long time rival Jump City High. One of the most notible is a float made to look like a centurtian, the school's mascot. The float consisted of the upper body of a Roman centurion clad in blue armor with its sword lifted up. Meanwhile the band was going over last recitals before the big game, Raven was among them playing the trumpet.

A half hour later it was show time. People began filling the ball park, tickets were stamped and people filled the stands. Setting down blankets and coolers. Lawn chairs began lining the fence along the football field. In no time the stadium was filled to the brim. Kids chased each other in the grass. While on the other side of the stadium cars begin to fill the empty grass field, people were firing up grills and holding talegate parties, tent awnings were being set up and inside the concession stands snacks were being ordered and sold. Folks from the radio station were setting up getting thier equipment ready and the smell of hickory smoke filled the air. The staduim lights come on as people settle into their seats with snacks in hand. People were walking down from the old overpass bridge outside the park and made thier way to the stadium gates. The coach went over the final game plan with the players listening intently and nodding thier heads understanding him. When he got finished the players huddle together and pile on hands yelling out a team chant. The band stood at the edge of the playing field ready for thier opening number. The stadium announcer took his seat and flipped on the mic.

"Good evening everyone and welcome to Marv Wolfman Field in tonight's season opener against the Jump City Panthers. And now let's welcome your Xavier Titans!" the announcer yelled.

The crowd cheered as the Titans took to the field in thier orange, blue jerseys and white pants with orange stripes. The helmets were blue with two white stripes on the outside and a single orange stripe down the middle. The logo was an orange 'X' with a sword crossing over one of the arms. Their numbers were white with orange highlights. And wore black shoes and socks. The players rip through a large paper drawing on a hoop and tear through a large banner as they ran onto the field. Over the screams of fans, the announcer went through the roll call.

"#19 Quarterback, Richard 'Golden Arm' Grayson!" Rich ran to the end of the line holding his helmet in the air.

"#52 Linebacker, Slade 'The Terminator' Wilson!"

Slade followed Rich to the end of the line with his helmet above his head. The two ran back to the end of the line and jumped up and slammed into each other's chest.

"#21 Running Back, Victor 'The Mean Machine' Stone!" Vic ran through like the others and met back with the guys. Jumped up and body slammed Rich like Slade before him.

"#37 Corner Back, Leonid Kovar!" Leonid did the same as the guys before them. But didnt smash into his friends, and high fived the guys instead.

"#28 Right Tackle, Ga'narrk!" Ga'narrk made his run. Richard and Ga'narrk butt heads with thier helmets.

"#83 Running Back, Roy Harper!" He ran to the end and only high fived the guys in passing.

"#7 Place Kicker, Gar Logan!" Gar jumped in the air as he ran down the field. Tara cheered from the stands.

The rest of the team was introduced as they went through the same routine. The Jump City Panthers take to the field and players got into position. The Panthers wore blue jerseys with white numbers and black highlights and silver pants with blue socks. The helmets were silver with a black panther for the logo. The ref came onto the field with the game ball, several other officials took thier positions along the field. Rich Grayson and the Jump City QB meet infront of the ref. The ref held up a quarter.

"Call it in the air." he said.

"Heads." said Rich.

"Tails." said the Jump City QB.

"Its tails. Xavier will recieve the ball." the ref told them. The two players nodded as he handed the Jump City quarterback the ball.

The Panthers line up ready to start the game. Titans stood ready. The Panthers run down the field and kick the ball high in the air. The Titans run towards thier opponets as Vic ran back and caught the ball. He takes off down the field, Titans do thier best to hold off other players. They clash mid-field, Vic goes to the outside a Panther dives grabbing his ankle and takes him to the ground. They land just within the boundary, Vic clutches the ball against his chest. The ref blows his whistle ending the first play. Titans' ball. The players make thier way back to the center of the field.

"Job Vic!" said one of the players.

With the ball back in Xavier's posession. Ball is snapped back to Rich, he runs back, looks for an opening and releases it into the air. Vic makes a break as the ball spirals into his hands. He takes off but is blindsided by a Jump City blocker and knocked flat on his back, the ball tumbles out of his hands and the Jump City player jumps over Vic and tumbles grabbing the ball. The Titans gained 20 yards but the ball is in Jump City possession now. The ref blew the whistle.

Vic shook his head and cleared himself, smacking his hand against his head and was helped up by one of the JC players. The players made thier way back to the center. The ball was snapped to the JC quarterback, he falls back as Panthers break through the line of scrimmage. The QB chucks it and is intercepted by one of the Panthers for an easy touchdown. The go for the extra point kick and its good. 7-0 Jump City.

The Xavier players groan.

"Its all right, we'll get em. Its no big deal." Rich said to his team.

"Come on guys, let's get back in there." said Vic.

The players face each other down on the battle field, Titans have the ball. They snap it back to Rich, he throws it over the Panthers' heads as Vic catches the ball and makes a dash to the endzone. He goes left, then right as he breaks through a wall of Jump City players but is clotheslined by one of the other blockers and goes down hard. The referee threw a flag on the field and blew his whistle.

"Ohhhhhh!" went several of the guys on the sideline.

Oh come on! What the hell was that?!" The Titans coach yelled.

"Unnecessary Roughness, Jump City. 10 Yard penalty." said the ref.

Some of the guys helped Vic off the field.

"You ok big guy?" Rich asked.

"Yeah I'm fine. Damn, he got me good." Vic said.

They carried him back to the bench where he sat down to rest. Removing his helmet he laid his head back against the backrest.

"Time out ref!" Rich called.

"Time out Xavier." The ref said.

"And the Titans will use thier first time out of the game. Let's hope its something good." said the radio announcer.

The players huddle together at the edge of the field.

"All right here's what we're gonna do. Ga'narrk, Slade and Leonid I need you guys to help clear a path. Toby I want you to drive it home for us. Can you do that?" Rich asked.

"Hell yeah." Toby nodded.

"All right, Titans on three. 1, 2, 3..." Rich said piling on hands.

"Titans!" they yelled.

They break huddle and make it back to the 40 yard line.

"Ready, set...hut, hut, hike!" Rich yelled.

The ball was snapped back to him he faded back as Leonid, Slade and Ga'nark went to take care of the offensive line. Several of the Panthers managed to break through, Rich did his best to evade them. Pressured, he threw the ball to Toby. Grayson was tackled shortly after. Toby chased after the ball as it spiraled down towards him he caught the ball and made a mad dash up the field. There wasnt a man to touch him, Slade blocked other players from getting to him. He's at the 20, the 15, the 10 touchdown Xavier!

Fans and players rejoice. Rich threw his arms in the air. The Titans lined up for the extra point kick. Now it was Gar Logan's turn. The skinny young player looked down the field anxiously. Tightening the strap on his helmet, he swallowed the lump in his throat as he got ready. The ball was snapped, the place holder held it. Gar ran and punted the ball. Its up and its good, tying the score 7-7. Gar breathed a sigh of relief glad that the moment was over. The buzzer sounds, that's the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter started not long after that as the players got back to the center of the field. The ball was in Xavier's hands. They snap the ball back to Rich who passes it up field before getting sacked. Slade runs to grab the ball, but is stolen away by a Jump City player he makes a dive and misses the runner. The rest of the Titans race to catch him. He manages to dodge most of the players, even Rich was forced to join in. In a rare move, Rich dives and grabs him around the waist from the side and forces him out of bounds. The whistle is blown. Rich gets off the Jump City player and they return to the line of scrimmage with the ball once again in X High School's posession.

They snap the ball once again but Richard gets mowed down by three Jump City players knocking the ball out of his hands. Both sides dive for the ball and stuggle to rip it out of each other's hands. The ref blows his whistle repeatedly and comes rushing in. One by one they start to get off of each other leaving the Panther player at the bottom with the ball in one arm over his chest. Jump City ball. Slade gave his buddy Rich a hand and pulled him up.

"You all right?" Slade asked.

"I feel like I got hit by a freight train." Rich said.

"Walk it off man." Slade said patting his back.

Rich staggered a bit Slade caught his arm.

"Maybe you _should_ rest." he said.

"Didnt you just tell me to walk it off? Make up your mind." Rich joked softly.

"You sure your all right dude?" Slade asked.

"I'll be fine. Get back in there. We're not done yet." Rich told him.

"All right, be careful man." Slade told him.

"You kidding me? I've taken harder hits from girls." he said.

Slade chuckled as he ran back to his position, he was probably right too. The Titans and Panthers get back in formation. Jump City has the ball.

"Ready, set. Hut, hut, hike!" yelled the Jump City quarterback as they snap the ball. He falls back and released the ball to his teammate on the other side. Slade runs and plows into him from the side. The ball falls aimlessly to the ground. The whistle is blown ending the playing placing it back in the hands of Xavier.

"Good hit Slade!" yelled Rich.

By this time Vic had come back onto the field switching places with one of the others. Players take thier places on the line of scrimmage again.

"Hike!" yelled Rich, the ball is snapped back to him and he spirals it to Vic who charges down the field. Smashing through other line backers and making a first down.

"Yes! Way to go Vic!" Rich yelled.

"All right bring it home Vic!" Slade yelled clapping his hands.

"Just clear me path and I'll do the rest." Vic said.

"Right!" said Slade.

Its First and Inches now, Titans are knocking on the Panthers' door. All they have to do is get past the defense and they score. And the Titans are gonna break down the door.

"Ready, hike!" yelled Rich.

The ball is snapped to Rich he laterals it to Vic who charges in. The Panthers are determined to keep them out and make a human wall. The Titans try with all thier might to break through, but the Panthers arent budging. Some of the Titans start to go down as some of the Jump City players start to overpower them. Vic charges at the wall full burst and goes up and over. He flips over the heads of his fellow Titans, some of the Jump City players see him coming and try to block him. Three of the players tumble back as Vic dives through and rolls across in the endzone with the ball tucked into his chest, he lands on one knee the stadium erupts. Touchdown Xavier! Kori and the other cheerleaders cheered wildly.

"Yeah! Good job!" Coach yelled.

"All right, get in there kid." he said to Gar.

"Right." Gar strapped on his helmet and ran onto the playing field.

The players got ready for the extra point kick. The ball was snapped to the placeholder. The Pathers try to break through the line of Titans. Gar runs and kicks the ball as hard as he could and knocked right down the middle. Making the score 14-7, the clock expires and sends them into halftime. The players walk off the field and into the locker room to cool off. Fans cheer as the Titans lead the game.

With the half time show about to begin, the band gets ready to go on the field.

"All right, let's go!" said the band director.

The high school marching band filed onto the playing field and preformed the school's fight song. Behind them were several of the floats on the back end of the field partically the centurian float. As they were in the middle of doing thier second song. The centurion float suddenly bursts open triggering several explosions. The band members hit the deck with people screaming. Streams of fireworks shoot into the air eminating from the destroyed float. Through the smoke and the flames the silholettes of three people could be seen. Richard and the others were about to spring into action. When the smoke cleared Tim Drake, Tad Ryerstad, and Lonnie Machin were standing in the midst of the float's remains. Tim stood in the foreground with an electric guitar and a mic stand. Lonnie was behind him on drums and Tad was on the far right with another guitar and a mic stand of his own.

"What the hell?!" said the coach.

"Hello everyone, we're Anarchist Reign. Are you guys ready to rock?" Tim said.

The stunned silence suddenly turned to cheering coming from the student body.

"Good. This is a song by Sum 41 called Underclass Hero." Tim said.

The band began to rock out as teachers started to charge the field.

"Let them play! Let them play! Let them play! Let them play! Let them play!"

The band members fought back, trying to push them off. The crowd continued to chant. The principle tried to reason with her students why they should be taken off stage. The students protested all the more to her chagrin. The football players stood at the entrance of the locker rooms to see what was happening. By this time they began chanting adding to the frustration of those trying to maintain order. The chanting grew louder with each passing minute until finally Arella gave in.

"Fine." she said turning to the police officers that were holding the Tim, Tad and Lonnie.

"Go on, let them play." she said defeated.

Police reluctantly released the band members that was met with applause.

"Keep it clean or your out of here." she told the band before leaving the stage.

"We'll...try our best." Lonnie said.

"You better, or I really will have to press charges." she told them.

Once she had left the band explained that they were a cover band for Sum 41 and went on to preform several of thier songs which ranged from hard rock to softer songs. The band preformed songs like 'Underclass Hero', 'Dear Father', and finished out with the softer 'So Long, Goodbye'. The band was met with an ovation.

A guy in the stands turned to his friend and says. "Last year was better."

When the half time show concluded, the players take to the field once again and met with cheering. About an hour later the score was 28-27. The Titans were Third and Down on the Panthers 30 yard line. They snap the ball, Rich gets clobbered and fumbles the ball a Panther recovers the ball and then gets sacked. A couple of plays later the Panthers have advanced halfway up the field. Fumble after fumble the Titans were losing ground quickly until the Panthers were knocking on thier front door. The Panthers broke through the Titans ranks and score another touchdown. A while later they make the extra point kick making the score 34-28. With 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter the Titans were fading fast. Rich was getting agitated and could hear the coach screaming at him and the other players from the sidelines.

Rich called Vic over.

"We'll hafta go for the Hail Mary." Richard said.

"Are you crazy? A hail mary? What the hell makes you think that's going to work?!" Vic yelled.

"We dont have a choice." said Rich.

"Wake up and smell the astroturf. We're on our own 20 yard line. Please dont tell me your serious!" said Vic.

"What's wrong?" asked Slade.

"He wants to do a Hail Mary." Vic said.

"What?! This is high school football man, not the NFL!" said Slade.

By this time the other players had caught wind of his plan and were soundly against it. The clock was ticking down, Rich managed to talk them into it, much to everyone's dismay.

"You better pray this works Rich. Cause if we lose this I'm kicking you ass." Vic told him.

"It'll work guys trust me." Rich told them.

"Sure hope your right." Slade said.

The team got into the appropriate formation. Some of the players looked at them in suprise.

"Please dont tell me thier going for that!" the Titans coach said.

The Jump City coach looked through a pair of binoculars and lowed them.

"The hell are they up to?" the old gray coach wondered.

"Ready, set. Hut, hut, hike!" Rich yelled.

The ball was snapped to him he falls back as several Titans break though the Panthers defense. At the same time they were charging Rich. With three Panthers coming after him, he took off running across the field. Slade and Leonid guard him from being tackled he runs along the sidelines trying to get a clear shot. A Panther linebacker ran right at him. He ducked as the linebacker fell out of bounds, he ran diagonally across the fielder, Panthers on all sides trying to nail him. He weaves in and out between blockers as the Titans take them out one by one. Rich ran up field with a horde of Panthers chasing after him he was up to the 40 yard line. He takes aim and fires it as far and high as he can, a fleeting prayer went through his mind 'please work' before he was sacked from behind by a Panther linebacker.

The pigskin sailed through the air traveling higher and higher seeming like the heavens themselves would swallow the ball till the football reached it's zenith and decended towards earth. As it dropped Vic charged up field running at full burst with a trio of Panthers behind him. Faster and faster the ball the ball dropped coming out of its spiral he saw the ball from the corner of his eye and stretched out his arms, he was nearing closer to the endzone. He's at the 15, the 10, the 5 yard line. The Titan jumped in the air as the ball spiraled down and nearly touched it but was knocked down by the Panther's linebacker. As he went down, the Panther went to grab the ball but slipped through his fingers, Vic grabbed the ball away from him and landed hard in the endzone. He slid across on his back the ball tucked in his arms. The linebacker's foot touched the ground just inches from Vic's face and staggered awkardly across the endzone. Vic finally came to a halt onto of the lettering in the endzone, the ball still resting safely in his arms. The stadium erupted even louder than before. The roar of the crowd so deafening, you couldnt hear yourself think. The sidelines exploded with coaches and players flooding the field even though there was still 30 seconds left on the clock. The score is tied at 34 points even. Referees tried holding them back, the stadium clock halted at 15 seconds. Players hugged each other.

A few minutes later, they resumed play. With 15 seconds left on the clock the only thing that stood between the Titans and victory was one lone field goal. Fans were on thier feet cheering, it was all up to Gar Logan to nail this kick and win the game. Gar was sweating profusely under his helmet he could feel the immense pressure. It was times like this he almost hated being a placekicker.

"Come on Gar, you can do this." Tara said.

He took in a few deep breaths and asserted himself, its now or never. He gave the go-ahead signaling he was ready. The ball is snapped to the placeholder. Gar charges at it, throwing his leg back and kicked it as hard as he could. The ball tumbled through the air. He nailed it dead on, right down the center of the goal post.

The stadium erupted yet again as streams of confetti rain down from the stands. Titans win 35-34. Gar gets ambushed by his team and pile on top of him. Some of the guys on the sidelines dumped a tub of Gatorade on their coach drenching him to the marrow. Gar gets pulled out from underneath the dogpile and put on the shoulders of his team with his friend Rich Grayson sitting right beside him. They high five each other and cheer wildly as Kori, Raven and Tara ran onto the field. The guys put Rich and Gar down and swept up in the arms of thier girlfriends. Tara kissed Gar on the lips. Kori buried her head in the crook of the quarterback's neck. Vic and Slade soon met up with them, Raven threw her arms around Slade's neck and kissed his cheek. Kole came up behind Vic and suprised him, he spun around and saw the pink haired girl standing before him.

"Hey!" he said.

"Hey!" Kole said and went to hug him.

Vic bent down and hugged the petite little girl dropping his helmet beside him.

"You did great tonight Vic." she told him.

"Thanks Kole." he said.

Kole then planted a kiss on his cheek which caught him by suprise. He looked at her and smiled, she smiled back and hugged him again. Vic drew her closer into his chest careful not to squish her, but Kole was suprisingly strong herself as she tightened her arms around his neck giving him the biggest bearhug.

"I love you." she said.

Outside the ball park on a hill stood Bryan Markov, the young man smiled having seen the whole thing. Nobody else knew he was there, he intended to suprise his sister Tara. There was a red flash in the woods not too far from him he went to investigate. Bryan saw two men strangely dressed men standing in the woods. Both of them were dressed in some sort of body armor. One looked like a mercinary dressed in black with armor on his arms and legs and a bandolaro arcross his chest. And wore a blue cowl type mask with menacing red eyes. The second one was taller and bulkier dressed in black with armor in the shape of a human ribcage and wore a hooded cape with metal skull shaped mask.

"Its been a long time hasnt it Slaughter?" the man in the robe asked.

The shorter man in the blue mask smiled.

"Yeah it has. So many people to kill, so little time." his friend remarked.

"If you think your going to hurt those people. You got another thing coming." said Bryan.

The two masked men turned to see him step out from behind a tree.

"And just who are you?" asked Slaughter.

"Who me? I'm just a bartender..."

A ray of yellow light swept across his forehead left to right revealing a pair of yellow ski goggles. Bryan's hands started to glow the same color and a pair of black fingerless gloves appear on each hand. A yellow vest materializes over his black t-shirt and his blue jeans change into yellow cargo shorts completing his transformation.

"But you can call me, Geo-Force." he said.

_AN: Dun, dun, dun sorry had to do it. Anyway I'm heading back to school on Tues so I thought I'd get this out of the way first. I've managed to 10 chapters over the summer, which I think is pretty good. Dont you?Anyway I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. I know its real long again. Its funny I've been meaning to do a high school football chapter since the beginning and just now I'm getting around to it. haha. Since we're coming up to ch. 40 I wanted to do something special and bring back a favorite character of mine. So how will he fair against Slaughter and Executioner, you'll just have to find out. _

_Please review_


	40. Countdown to Crisis, Part 1

_Author's Note: Hey guys sorry it took so long to update. I've been real busy with school and I hope you forgive me. Anyway here's the next chapter I hope you like it as always. _

**Chapter 40 **

**Countdown to Crisis, Part 1**

_Earlier that evening_

In the depths of the haunted mansion, Ryan Trigon monarch of evil called forth his servants.

"Warriors, the time has come that we strike the human world. For far too long I have been trapped in this dungeon. But now the time is right. Bring me my sister Raven so that my evil will reign supreme once again!" he cried.

Ryan's men let out a battle cry lifting their weapons with zeal.

"Go now in the name of your lord and master. And let those that stand for good taste your wrath!" Ryan said.

_A few minutes ago: _

Slaughter and Executioner stood on the hilltop over looking the football field.

"So many people to kill, so little time." Slaughter said.

The two men heard a rustling in the grassy area.

"If you think you're going to hurt those people. You got another thing coming." Bryan said.

"And just who are you?" Executioner asked.

"Who me? I'm just a bartender…" he said.

A ray of yellow light swept across his forehead left to right revealing a pair of yellow ski goggles. Bryan's hands started to glow the same color and a pair of black fingerless gloves appear on each hand. A yellow vest materializes over his black t-shirt and his blue jeans change into yellow cargo shorts completing his transformation.

"But you can call me, Geo-Force." he said.

Slaughter and Executioner stare back at the young man.

"Well, well what do we have here? It's not nice to eavesdrop." Slaughter said.

"Why don't we teach this kid a lesson?" added Executioner.

"Bring it on." Geo-Force said.

Slaughter and Executioner charged him. Just as they were about to attack, a slab of rock shot out of the ground blocking them catching them off guard. The slab receded and Geo Force struck a power punch knocking them back. He went on the offensive leapt forward attacking them. Slaughter and Executioner blocked his attacks. He threw a volley of punches at them; they blocked his attacks blow for blow. Geo spun and threw them an over-the-top roundhouse kick hitting Slaughter in the head and knocking him flat on his back. Executioner went to attack him. He block Ex's punched and fell back as Ex went on the offensive. Geo Force blocked his last punch and launched a sheet of rock out of the ground and into his gut. He punched Executioner in the face and he did a drop kick busting through the rock and into Ex's stomach knocking him to the ground. Slaughter got back up and swung his sword at him. Geo dodged the attacks and countered them with several more sheets of stone. He grabbed Slaughter's blade kicked him in the stomach and shifted the ground knocking him sideways as Geo elbowed him in the back of the head. Geo stomped the ground, which carried Slaughter into the foot of a tree.

A row of blades protract on Executioner's cybernetic hand. And launched his robotic hand on a rocket at Geo's blindside. He caught sight of it at the last minute and had it blocked with a large thick slab of stone. The rock then explodes from Executioner's cannon blast knocking Geo face first across the ground. When he looked back he saw Executioner coming at him with his rocket hand retracting on a chain. Geo Force flipped out of the way as he drove his claws into the ground. Geo looked at him from upside down as he came out of the flip.

"Time to get serious." He said.

A burst of fire swept across his body as Geo Force summoned his flame sword he landed on his feet and charged at them full burst, Slaughter and Executioner stood ready for him.

Geo-Force slashed at them diagonally with his flame sword. Executioner jumped back and drew his own blade. Slaughter leapt off his buddy's shoulder drawing his own saber ready to pounce on Geo-Force. Geo-Force swung his sword crossways sliced Slaughter's blade in half surprising him, as Slaughter was ready to touch down. Bryan shot a slab out of the earth throwing Slaughter off balance and then punched in the chest by Bryan. Executioner took over and attacked him with his sword. Bryan easily evaded his blade. Ex swung his sword crossways; Geo-Force leaned back, the blade just barely missing his chin. Geo shifted the earth, throwing Executioner off balance. His hand glowed yellow and with an open palm hit to the chest sent Executioner flying across the surface of the ground. The force was so great it smashed him into a large boulder that was behind him. Slaughter soon got back in the fight with new weapons drawn. Geo summoned a couple of rock shields as Slaughter sliced at him with his blades, sparks fly off the rocks as he tried to get a hit. Bryan brought his hands together ripping two large slabs of rock out of the ground compressing them together and sent it flying at Slaughter. The rock shattered as he flew back across the earth. Executioner was soon back on his feet. He couldn't believe how resilient these two were. As Executioner came near him his left arm transformed into a cannon, now he knew he was in for a fight.

A series of explosions rained down from the mountain. The high school students look up and see the fireball. Bryan is thrown several hundred feet, and hits the ground hard sliding across on his back. His body ached; he cradled the back of his head getting up. Slaughter and Executioner slowly approached him. Geo Force got to one knee pulling him up off the ground; he didn't know how much longer he could hold them off. Just as they were about to reach him, a single shot rang out hitting Slaughter in the shoulder. He fell against his partner who caught him. Geo-Force turned and saw a man in a leather jacket and white shirt and jeans wearing a crimson helmet carrying a sawed-off shotgun.

"Remember me?" he said.

An explosion rips apart the western end of the stadium sending people in a panic. Malchior and Rorek storm the stadium with a giant army of goblins. Richard and the others run to the center of the field as people scramble toward the exits.

"Oh no." Raven said.

"What now?" Kori asked Richard.

"We have to go Titan." Said Vic.

"But we can't, not in front of all these people." Said Slade.

"We don't have a choice." Said Vic.

"Let's do it guys!" Rich said.

"Right!" they said.

Richard took out his transformation device and pressed the button. A red ring of energy shot up from the ground, transforming him from his football uniform into his Robin uniform. Green gloves materialized on his arms, a long black and yellow cape graced his shoulders and his domino mask covered his eyes.

Kori pressed the button on her transformation device and was blanketed in a burst of purple light. Her orange and blue cheerleader uniform was replaced by a black one. Long silver bands wrap around her arms, legs, and waist. And an opaque visor with a silver band covered her eyes transforming her into Starfire.

Tara pressed a button on her device and was consumed in a ray of yellow light. A red long sleeved belly shirt graphed itself onto her body. With a golden "T" symbol on her chest, a pair of yellow shorts covers her lower half, with brown hiking boots and gloves and a red facemask exposing her eyes, mouth and hair covers her face changing her into Terra.

Garfield held his watch up to the sky, and beams of purple light shoot from the face of the watch. As his skin, hair and eyes turned green. His football uniform was replaced with a black long sleeved shirt and purple vest, with white shorts, tube socks and black and purple shoes transforming him into Beast Boy.

A ray of orange light covers Slade's body. A black and silver jumpsuit replaces his football uniform. Plates of silver armor fuse to his arms and legs. An orange and black mask appears and covers his head transforming him into Deathstroke.

Victor punched his fists together activating his power rings. An explosion of blue light comes forth shooting off in every direction. His muscles became encased in stone, wearing just a pair of black pants, blue boots and silver head and wrist bands changing him into Stone.

A black beam of light shot up from Raven transforming her band uniform into a pair of black leotards with blue wrist bands and a gold chain belt, a blue energy ring then appeared around her shoulders manifesting a long blue robe with a hood that covered her face transforming her into Raven the last member of the team.

Students, parents and teachers were stunned by what they saw. But their stunned silence turned to cheering realizing the Titans have come to save them. Robin and Deathstroke drew their swords.

"Come on!" said Malchior.

"Let's get 'em!" cried Robin.

The crowd cheered as the Titans rushed into battle against Malchior and his goons. Robin jumped in the air and took on the crimson knight; Malchior blocks his blade with his shield and swung his own blade in retaliation. The two engage in combat. While Deathstroke takes on Rorek, the silver knight swings his saber unleashing a crescent blade of silver energy. Deathstroke leaps in the air avoiding the attack that explodes beneath him Deathstroke held his blade high above his head and comes down on Rorek. The knight stood frozen as Slade's sword nicked his shoulder, sparks flew from the strike point and Rorek retaliated. Starfire flew in and blasted a monster with her starbolt energy. Beast Boy turned into a panther and pounced on another monster throwing it to the ground and bit it's wrist. Terra ran into battle and tore a rift in the earth and sending a slab of stone ripping across the ground and bowling over some of the monsters. Beast Boy changed into a ram and slammed his horns into the torso of another monster. Raven flew into battle unleashing twin streams of energy from her hands annihilating several monsters in her wake. Slade continued his battle with Rorek. The knight elbowed Slade in the stomach and gave him an uppercut. Rorek slashed his chest with his saber. The Titan groaned and took a step back. Rorek spun and kicked him hard in the chest knocking him to the ground. Raven then fired a blast at Rorek from above. The knight dodged the attack and threw his sword like a spear at her. Raven dodged the attack. The sword then returned to its owner.

Stone punched his way through the mass of monsters and goblins. The one man wrecking crew cuts a swath across the endless army of mutants. Malchior powered up his sword, a red serpentine dragon spiraled around his sword in the form of pure energy. The knight held his sword high above his head made a diagonal slash.

"Rage of the Dragon!" he yelled striking Robin with his attack.

Robin screamed as the attack tore through him ripping his costume apart at the shoulders and on his thigh. Strips of his cape were sheared off by the attack throwing him back. Robin slid across the ground on his feet. His entire body was racked with pain. The rest of the Titans were starting to go down as well.

Meanwhile up on the hilltop the battle continued as Red Hood and Geo-Force teamed up to battle Slaughter and Executioner. Slaughter fired a shot at Red Hood with his blaster, the Hood rolled across the ground taking out his pistol in mid-roll and shot back while Geo-Force took on Executioner. The geokenetic ran toward the skull-faced assassin and drew his flame sword once more. Executioner switched over to a purple energy sword built into his left arm. The two clashed in the midst of the battlefield. Their swords meet and flash with might and echoed with thunderous bursts as they clashed to and fro. Geo-Force was determined not to lose to him again. Pushing his way through and slashed at Executioner's side with his blade. The villain groaned in pain as he thrust his atomic blade at Geo-Force's neck. The Titan jumped back and slashed at his calf setting it aflame. Ex roared in pain and collapsed to one knee and was kicked in the face by Geo.

Slaughter and Red Hood raced through the woods each armed with a pair of shurikens. They hurled their weapons at each other dodging behind trees faster than the eye can see. Both are well versed in the art of ninja. They two raced out of the woods toward the edge of a cliff and soared in the air. They exchange punches in midair throwing in the occasional kick. They both hit the ground at the same time and tumble away from each other before getting to their feet. They charge each other again. Hood threw a punch and Slaughter did a kick. They strike each other with a loud thud knocking them back a step or two before getting back in there. Red Hood threw another punch this time at Slaughter's face. His neck snapped back, Red Hood spun and kicked him across the chest. The villain staggered nearly falling to the ground, but recovered and donkey kicked Hood in the chest knocking him. Slaughter took control and began punching him repeated in the face and chest. The Hood had no time to react to his blows as Slaughter continued getting the better of him. The Hood grabbed his wrist, kneed him in the chest and twisted his arm back. And tried wrenching the arm out of its socket Slaughter gritted his teeth in pain. His body doubled over by the force Red Hood was exerting on his arm. Out of desperation Slaughter threw his leg back and kicked Red Hood in the head forcing him off. The villain fell to the ground face first. His arm was on fire, Red Hood slowly picked himself up off the ground. Slaughter dug his face out of the ground and looked up at his nemesis.

"Why you, you're going to pay for that!" he growled.

Meanwhile the battle with the Titans raged on, Malchior slashed at Robin's side again with his sword. The Titan leader went down; his hand went for the gaping wound in his side, as Malchior got ready to finish him off. A supercharged starbolt rained down on him from the air. Starfire dropped in from the sky and punched Malchior in the face as hard as she could, which sent the knight sliding back on the soles of his feet. Starfire went after him again with a flurry of punches to the face and chest knocking the knight back with each step. Starfire overcome with rage will not let him go unpunished and each punch more intense than the last. The knight threw up his shield and attempted to block them. But Starfire broke his shield with a single punch and was horrified by her display of power as the shield shattered. Starfire punched him again in the chest cracking his armor. He could feel his ribs underneath shatter. His breath escaped him and his feet left the ground. Starfire threw back her fist and collided with his face, blood spilled from his nose as he flew across and crashed into the ground only seconds later.

Starfire kneeled down next to Robin.

"Are you ok?" she asked.

"Yeah I'm fine, just a flesh wound." He said as blood trickled down the side of his suit.

"This has gone on long enough!" Rorek said.

With that the knight's eyes glowed pale yellow. His body began to give us the same ghoulish light. The knight growled as he grew fangs, the markings underneath his eyes became more defined changing into tribal markings. His chest began to grow in size as did his arms and legs. His long dark scarf came down to his waist and started to take on a life of its own almost like a tail. His armor began to shape shift as a pair of wings grew from his back he became more beastly in appearance. His legs began to change taking on animalistic qualities. His fingers turned into long metallic nails. He began to grow a tail, spikes appeared along his back. His skin turned pale, his face becoming more demonic. His chin became long and pointed and he grew razor sharp teeth. He grew to massive size; his body began to take on a more reptilian form as his wings grew to full size. A pair of massive horns grew on his forehead. His long white hair lay flat to one side. Suddenly his skin changed again this time to jet black and his underside turned to silvery-white. The "R" symbol was tattooed on his chest. His feet branched out becoming more reptilian. Rorek's turned to red with tiny black pupils, and his mouth turned into a long dark muzzle with a small horn on accentuating his nose. His wings were white with black streaks. The dragon roared with flames shooting out of his mouth showing his enemies his terrible new form.

The Titans were shocked by the surprise transformation. Rorek stood 30 feet tall, bluish white flames shot from his mouth as he launched his attack. The Titans never had a chance. An explosion could be seen from outside the ballpark. Up on the hilltop Geo-Force turned and saw the colossal fireball emanating from the heart of the playing field.

"Oh no." he said. He turned back and saw Red Hood still battling Slaughter.

"Red Hood, can you handle these guys by yourself?" he asked.

"Sure!" he said holding Slaughter back with his sword.

"Go help your friends!" he told him.

"All right, be careful." Geo-Force said.

"Don't worry about me I'll be fine." He said.

And with that Geo-Force stomped the ground and took off on a flying slab of rock in the form of a surfboard. The young hero flew towards the stadium praying he wasn't too late. Back at the arena the Titans laid scattered across the broken playing field. The dragon reached and picked up the unconscious Raven in his claws. Slade groaned incoherently he looked up and saw him taking Raven.

"No!" he jumped to his feet and went after him.

Rorek swung his tail cracking Slade's ribs and sends him flying through the air and crashed into the ground 50 feet away. He coughed up blood. Robin was the next one to go after Rorek and shot his grappling hook. The dragon slashed at him with his claws. Robin dodged the attack and raced around him pulling on the line which threw the dragon off balance. Stone and Starfire then got in there and attacked. Rorek launched a tongue of fire at them. Terra ripped a huge chunk of earth in the form of a spike aimed directly at his chest. The dragon launched an all-consuming fire from his mouth effectively destroying the rock formation beating the Titans soundly. Rorek then wrapped his tail around his brother and made his escape. At that same time Geo-Force was flying right towards him and launched spiraling streams of fire from his hands getting right in the dragon's face. He shook off the attack and roared, shooting flames back at him. Geo-Force blocked the attack with his own fire blast. But the dragon was too much for him, and shot laser beams from his eyes knocking Geo-Force out of the sky. Geo-Force fell hundreds of feet crashing into the ground. The dragon roared and flew off taking Raven back to his lair.

He arrived at the haunted mansion a few miles away on the other side of town. The dragon hovered above the mansion and let out a thunderous roar, letting his brother slip out of his tail and fell to the ground. The silver knight assumed human form carrying Raven under his arm and made his way in. Malchior followed soon after. They made their way to the lower chambers of the mansion, where the realm of humanity end and the realm of evil begin. There they stood in the basement of the mansion; it had all come down to this one moment.

"Let's get started." Rorek said.

And with that he and his brother passed through the portal that would lead them to the realm of their lord. Back at the football stadium the Titans struggled to pick themselves up. While not far away from the stadium Geo-Force laid in a crater. Red Hood continued to battle Slaughter.

"Why do you continue to fight us? We're on your side!" Slaughter said deflecting him with his sword.

"You were never on my side." The Hood said and slashed at his chest. The assassin ducked back just barely missing the blade.

Executioner pointed his cannon at Red Hood's back.

"Too bad your going to miss the celebration." He said.

Red Hood turned around to see him fire an energy blast at him. Red Hood tumbled to safety as the blast hit and sent him careening off the mountain.

"Sure it's going to be a blast." Executioner said.

But Red Hood came back, and launched himself high in the air. The Hood drew a pair of rocket launching pistols and fired them. The rockets hit, the two are nowhere to be seen. Red Hood landed next to where they stood and examined the area. They got away. Slaughter and Executioner retreat back to the haunted mansion to meet up with the others. They made their way down the corridor. Rorek led the march carrying the young girl in his arms. On the other side of the gate their lord and master sat on his throne awaiting his release. Rorek carried Raven up to Pandora's Gate.

"Are you ready master?" he asked.

"What do you think?" he said annoyed.

"Right, sorry." He quickly apologized.

"Help me get her up there." He told Slaughter.

The two men took the unconscious Raven stripped off her robe and bound her spread eagle to the outside of the gate. It was during this time she was roused to conciousness. Rorek took one last time to admire her gently stroked her breast.

"I'm really going to miss you Raven." He said running his hand down the side of her leg.

Raven's eyes flew open.

"What are you doing? Release me!" she yelled.

"Oh we can't do that Raven." Ryan said from behind the gate.

Ryan smiled and wrapped his hand around one of the poles. Raven glanced at him from the corner of her eye and was overcome with terror. Back at the football stadium the Titans along with several spectators were badly injured. Wintergreen kneeled over his son.

"Slade are you all right?" he asked.

Deathstroke clinched his eyes and grit his teeth. "Can't breathe dad." He said.

The paramedics rushed over to him. At the same time another team of medics was treating Robin, stitching up the wound in his side.

"Are you all right?" Starfire asked.

"Yeah I'll be fine." he winced as they finished patching him up.

"What about you?" he asked.

"I'm fine, my armor protected me for the most part." She said.

Robin grunted once more as they put on the last stitch. "Go check on the others."

"All right." She said getting up.

Starfire checked on Terra and Beast Boy. Terra had a few rips along the sleeves of her uniform and was being treated for scrapes and bruises. Beast Boy had a couple of scratches on his face. Stone due to his granite composite was perhaps the luckiest of them. But now with one Titan missing and two others severely injured. The Titans would have to pull together if they were to save Raven. Arella walked across the football field and approached the other Titans.

"Is everyone all right?" she asked.

"Define all right." Said Slade.

"Close enough. Look, I know you guys have been though enough. But if Ryan is unleashed it will be the end of mankind as we know it." She said.

"And how are we suppose to stop him?" said Robin.

"Anyway we can." Roy said from behind and was joined by several others.

_Please Review. _


	41. Countdown to Crisis, Part 2

_Author's Note: All right guys, I'm really sorry about the wait. I didnt mean for it to take this long, been busy with school and whatnot. Anyway here's the long awaited 41st Chapter to X High School. I hope everyone likes it. Thank you so much for your patience. _

**Chapter 41**

**Countdown to Crisis, Part 2**

Last time on X High School: Ryan's forces attacked the high school football game. After an epic battle between the forces of good and evil Raven was captured by Rorek and strapped to the gate that held her brother Ryan.

Ryan stood behind his sister on the other side of the gate with a sinister smile on his face.

"It wont be much longer now." He said.

Raven looked back at her brother in terror she couldn't believe this was happening. After everything her people had done to contain his evil it was about to be released.

"Soon my evil will flood the world. Let's get started." He said.

The dark master took a few steps back and threw out his arms holding his crystal staff in the air.

"By the powers of Darkness, enemy of Light. Cast open the gate and let evil out. Let those who stand for good cower before my might and the kingdom of Hell take over the Earth. Let Heroes die and Villains rise, let angels fall and demons overshadow the sky. The kingdom of mankind becomes like dust and the realm of mortals no longer the host. Let unspeakable evil take over this land by the might of my father, Trigon's hand!"

The crystal on Ryan's staff glowed blood red, giving off beams of ghastly light.

"Ryan no!" Raven yelled.

"Sorry Raven, don't take it personal." He said.

The Demon King pointed his staff at the gate and blasted it. Raven screamed as strange markings began appearing on her body. Her body gave off a red aura as cracks began to appear in the gate. Malchior, Rorek and the others stood back in awe. Raven's screams became louder. In the far distance future Grant Wilson was overcome with pain. The future Titan dropped to his knees clutching his chest.

"Grant what's wrong?" said his girlfriend Kendra.

At the same time his sister Rachael was overcome with pain and collapsed not far from him.

"Rachael!" yelled Michael as the Titan leader dropped down next to her.

Raven's screams intensified as her body began disintegrating at her feet. In the future her children were beginning to fade at the horror of the teammates. On the far side of the city Slade felt a sharp pain in his chest like he was having a heart attack. The mercenary Titan dropped to his knees clutching his chest. Starfire and the others gathered around him.

"_Something's happening to Raven I just know it!" _he thought to himself.

At this time Raven's lower legs were slowly disintegrating. Rorek had to cover his ears to shut out the screaming. Ryan deciding to end his sister's misery fired his staff at her again, shattering the gate and causing Raven to vanish completely. Slade fell to the ground and started to catch his breath. Even though his heart had started beating again he could feel a river of emptiness inside of him. In the distance future Grant and Rachael had vanished.

"Grant! Stay with me! Nooo!" Kendra screamed. Starblaze buried her head where her boyfriend once laid.

"Rachael!!!" yelled Michael.

"I don't believe it…they're gone." Said Dustin.

"What could have happened to them?" asked Cooper.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out." Mike told them.

In the present Slade lay on his back in the middle of the football field.

"Slade are you all right?" asked Starfire.

He opened his eyes and saw his team circled around him.

"Raven she's…gone." He said.

Their eyes widened in shock.

"What? How do you know?" asked Robin.

"I just do. I felt her pass." He said.

The other Titans bowed their heads in silence.

"That can only mean one thing…Ryan has returned." Said Robin.

"Do you think you can walk?" Starfire asked.

"Yeah I think so." Answered Slade.

A low roll of thunder could be heard in the air. The team looked up and saw the skies turn red. Streaks of lighting shot across the sky. The moon turned blood red and the lightning turned black. Ryan pointed his staff straight up firing an energy beam that blew the mansion sky high the dark lord rose out of the pit with his army a malevolent chuckle could be heard from the dark master as he rose higher and higher into the sky. His red and black cape flowed freely as he flew up towards the heavens. Ryan extended his staff and let loose his awesome power. Back at the football field Wintergreen ran up to the team.

"We have to get to my place hurry!" he said.

"Right let's go guys!" said Slade.

Just as they were about to leave someone spoke up.

"Wait we're coming with you!" said Kole.

"It's too dangerous!" said Robin.

"There's no time, if your going to help us you need to come with me!" said Wintergreen.

"All right come on!" yelled Robin.

"Everyone gather around me!" Wintergreen said.

The team assembled around him as he pressed a button on his watch. The team was teleported out of the football park and into the Wintergreen Mansion. Among the Titans were Roy Harper, Kole Weather, Argent and Leonid Kovar.

Slade pressed down on the gargoyle statue's head in the den sliding back a wall. Behind it was a steel door with a flattened globe and a large Red Cross in the middle with a golden ring going across it at a right angle.

"Open." Said Wintergreen.

The large steel door opened crossways to the amazement of everyone else. Wintergreen and Slade walked in as the others quickly followed.

"What is this place?" asked Roy.

"Your looking at the underground global command post of International Search and Rescue or I.S.R. as its more commonly known. I founded this organization many years ago. Our objective is to rescue people all over the world in situations where regular rescue efforts are not enough. However the organization serves another purpose…" Wintergreen explained.

As they came into the command center, they realized what he meant.

"Whoa!" Roy and Kole both exclaimed.

Beyond the state of the art computer systems in the downstairs sector of the base was a fleet of military and emergency vehicles along with a stockpile of military grade weaponry. The walls were lined with every modern firearm known to man, including rocket launchers. On the floor level were glass displays of knives and sabers of every kind. Towards the back were rows of lockers holding body armor. The Titans were in awe; they couldn't believe how much stuff there was.

"I think you guys know what comes next." Said Wintergreen.

The Titans nodded.

"Before we get started, why did you guys come here?" Richard asked the new comers.

"Your not the only one with powers." Said Roy.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Dick its me, its Speedy." He said.

"Speedy? Your Speedy?" Robin asked.

"Yeah. What about the rest of you guys?" Roy asked.

Kole's clothes changed in a crystalline flash. Her blue and white long sleeved shirt and jean skirt changed into a slightly altered version of it complete with diamond shaped shoulder pads and pleated skirt and sleeves.

Slade punched a wall in the background in the background and hit his forehead against it startling the others. He was seething with anger as he punched the wall again.

"He's gonna pay for what he did to her. I swear it on my life!" he growled.

Kori slowly approached him and placed her hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her, the hatred in his eyes quickly cooled down when he saw the pleading look on her face. She looked down and took his hand.

"I'm sorry about Raven I know how much you loved her. If there's anyway we can bring her back we'll find it." She told him.

Slade let down his guard a bit and looked at her. And nodded softly.

"Come here." She said.

Star drew him into her arms and hugged him. Slade responded and hugged her back. And rested his chin on her shoulder.

"We'll find a way to beat Ryan and to get Raven back I promise." Said Robin.

"Yeah, thanks guys." Slade pulled away from Star.

"We're all in this together." She said.

"Yeah I know we are Star." He said.

"Mr. Wintergreen will any of these weapons help us?" asked Robin.

"I certainly hope so Robin. I certainly hope so." He replied.

"So what is it that the rest of you can do?" asked Slade.

"I can turn my body into crystal." Explained Kole.

"Right, sorry for doing that." He apologized.

"It's ok." She said.

"What about you?" Vic asked Leonid.

The young Russian's body gave off a green glow and showed him wearing a dark green coat with a white circle and red star on the chest. Along with black pants and gloves and a green fur hat with a red star in the center.

"You may call me Red Star. I have power to conduct radiation." He said.

"And what about you?" Speedy asked.

"I can generate plasma energy. My real name is Antonia Montelli but everyone calls me Argent." She said.

"What about you Roy?" Beast Boy asked.

"Me? I'm one of the fastest and most accurate shots around and one of the world's best archers." He said.

"He really is. I know it sounds like BS but he is." Said Rich.

"With all of you together it will take everything we have to save mankind." Said Wintergreen.

"In that case, you don't mind if I borrow a few of those blasters do you?" asked Roy.

"My friend that's the reason why you're here. Everything within this base is at your disposal that goes for everyone. Seeing from your last battle I think your gonna need all the help you can get." Said Wintergreen.

"Thanks for everything Mr. Wintergreen, we wont let you down." Said Robin.

"The fate of the world rests in your hands, good luck Titans." Wintergreen said.

"All right Titans let's move!" Robin said.

"The rescue vehicles are in the bay." Wintergreen told them.

While the rest of the Titans jumped into the Jeeps and Hummers, Roy was stocking up on assorted firearms placing a new belt around his waist and a pair of bandoliers over his chest. The last thing that Roy slipped on was a black and red leather jacket and a pair of red sunglasses replacing his old domino mask. While Slade reloaded some of his weapons and picked up a few new ones.

"You ready for this?" Slade asked.

"I was born ready." Replied Roy.

"You know you won't be very fast carrying all that stuff. Maybe you should change your name to Arsenal or something?" Slade joked.

"Ha ha. How long did it take you to come up with that one?" Roy quipped.

In the middle of downtown Ryan makes his grand appearance. In a bolt of crimson lighting the dark lord appears on top of a skyscraper with his staff high above his head. Streaks of lightning raced down the side of the building blowing out windows and made their way to the street short-circuiting streetlights and blowing manholes skyward. Traffic died off and cars were brought to a screeching halt. Ryan let out an evil laugh as he held his crystal staff in the air his long black and red cape flowing freely over one shoulder.

"Citizens of San Antholas your day of judgment has come! I am your Lord and Master Ryan Trigon. Son of Darkness and new ruler of the human race!" he proclaimed.

People screamed and panic overtook the streets. The earth below Ryan was torn open and out of the pit of hell an army of demons arose. Giant red skinned demons with horns and bat wings flew out of the pit and landed on the streets. Malchior, Rorek, Slaughter and Executioner all jumped from the building next to Ryan and landed safely on the ground to begin the invasion. Blood Falcon also known as the Joker's Robin was in the crowd of innocents aghast at what was happening. However when Rorek asked him to join them the villain smiled and agreed. Among them was a teen in a black hooded sweater and black jeans carrying a scythe. Black Angel was one of Ryan's newest recruits, a teen sociopath with a knack for killing people. And had the appearance of a 14-year-old boy with black hair and his hood always up. And seemed to be part of the Emo culture. Black Angel took up his scythe ready to strike down an innocent civilian. Back at the I.S.R. Base the alarms went off alerting the team.

"They're attacking down town." Wintergreen said.

"We're on it. All right are you guys ready for this?" Robin asked.

"As we'll ever be." Said Roy.

"All right, let's move out!" Robin said.

"Right!" they yelled.

The ten Titans got to their rescue vehicles, the guys piled into a heavily armed Hummer while the girls got into a Jeep. The bay doors open with the International Search and Rescue logo on the door. The two vehicles race out of the base and into the city and top speed.

"Godspeed Titans." Said Wintergreen.

The Titans pull into the heart of the city in their Jeeps and Hummers, people were running franticly in the streets as demons and goblins chased after the helpless civilians. Robin jumped out of the Hummer and drove his foot into a demon's chest. The monster was unfazed by the attack and struck Robin in the chest. Starfire flew in and smashed her fist into the demon's face. His head snapped sharply to the right, the demon went back half a step and stood frozen. Just as it seemed certain Starfire had won. The demon grabbed her fist and forced it away from his face, the demon growled at Star eyes glowing yellow. A look of pure terror under Starfire's mask as the demon drove its fist into her gut and sent the Tamaraian flying Robin caught her knocking him to the ground. Deathstroke drew his pistol and shot at the demon point blank. The monster went back a couple steps as Slade unloaded a clip in the demon's chest. Roy jumped up into the air with twin pistols drawn and unloaded both weapons on the monster. The bullets were starting to have an effect as they ripped away at the demon's flesh. Just as it was about to go down, Roy dropped in on the demon and produced a staff from behind his back smashing it into the demon's face as it crashed into the ground killing it. The demon then melted into a puddle of red and black liquid signaling its defeat.

"Please tell me they're not all like this." Said Roy.

"It's going to be a long night." Remarked Stone.

Slade looked back at the fully armed truck.

"I got a better idea." He said.

"Way ahead of you." Said Stone.

"Let's take these bitches out." Said Roy.

The boys retreat back to the Hummer with Roy arming the cannon.

"Let's roll!" he said.

Deathstroke and Stone got in the cab with Vic driving. Tires spin as Vic floors it. Deathstroke leaned out the window and began his machine gun at the monsters and demons. Roy fired the rocket launcher taking out two or three demons in one fell swoop. The other Titans got the same idea and ran back to their vehicle and began to cut a swath through Trigon's defenses. Roy reloaded and fired another shot, the rocket flies through the air and crashes into the side of a building causing debris to fall on the invading army.

"What are you doing?! Don't hit the buildings people could still be inside!" yelled Vic.

"You got a better way of deal with these guys?" said Roy.

"Hang on!" said Vic.

Vic threw the hammer down and rammed the truck into a demon smashing the front end and sent the demon flying into a building. Roy fired another rocket into the building and brought it down on top of the monster. Stone looked up at him annoyed.

"Last time promise." Roy told him. Vic just shook his head.

"Remind me not to let you near this thing again." He commented.

Executioner fired his arm cannon and hit a nearby building. Chunks of concrete and debris came raining down on innocent civilians. Slade jumped from the truck and raced to save the people. Deathstroke dived and pushed a man and a woman out of the way before it hit, smashing the sidewalk beneath its crushing weight.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

The man nodded. Deathstroke was hit in the shoulder by a laser blast and was knocked to the ground. Slaughter and Executioner came up with him. The man and the woman ran for their lives. Slaughter and Executioner chuckle watched them running. Deathstroke grunted as he picked himself up off the ground.

"We got some old business to attend to." Said Slaughter.

Deathstroke punched the ground with his fist and was back on his feet.

"You know I'm really sick and tired of you guys." He said.

"Then let's finish it." Said Slaughter.

"Once and for all." Executioner finished his sentence.

"Gladly." Said Slade as he drew his katana from his back.

Slaughter drew his sword from his back and Executioner from his hip. Deathstroke took a fighting stance pointing the tip of his blade at the both of them. Deathstroke attacked them. He jumped in the midst of them taking on Slaughter their swords are the first to clash. The two mercenaries stared at each other as they struggled to hold each other off. The two of them back off and Executioner ran into attack Slade. Deathstroke blocked his attack with his blade and kicked Executioner in the chest knocking him back a step. Slaughter got in there and attacked Slade with his sword. Deathstroke blocked the attack as Executioner joined in cross his blade over the others. The three assassins held their ground as the two looked to overpower Slade. The Terminator jumped back and did a backflip while the two mercenaries charged in. Deathstroke locked swords with Slaughter catching his sword in midair. Executioner swung his sword at Deathstroke's side. The Terminator stepped on Ex's blade and forced Slaughter into him. Deathstroke kicked Slaughter in the chest and knocked the two of them to the ground. Deathstroke held his sword over his chest daring them to fight him once again. Slaughter was the first to answer his call and charged the young assassin. Slaughter swung his sword diagonally at Slade. Deathstroke spun dodging the blade and sliced Slaughter's lower back. The villain cried out in pain Slade kicked him in the place where he cut him knocking the assassin into the ground face first. Executioner went to replace his partner and took on Slade by himself.

The skull-faced assassin swung his blade at Deathstroke. The young mercenary leaned back dodging the blade and went to impale Executioner's gut with his sword. He dodged it only to have Deathstroke withdraw his sword and hack at his side. Executioner cried out in pain as his knees buckled. Slade took his sword and swung his blade at the villain's neck. The sword hit metal, something the hero didn't expect. Executioner plunged him blade hoping to impale Slade. The blade just barely missed his side as Deathstroke turned and leaned back. Executioner took hold of his adversary's blade and pried it from his hand. With both sabers in his grasp Executioner tossed Slade's sword in the air with his left hand catching it by the hilt. The assassin swung both swords in an "X" getting Deathstroke in the chest. He shouldered Deathstroke knocking the Titan to the ground. Executioner stood over him with both swords.

Slaughter ran towards him with his sword above his head and sliced the air bringing it down towards his adversary's torso. Slade flipped back just as it hit the ground. Deathstroke clutched his chest as the blood began to stain his suit. Executioner still had his sword. Deathstroke drew his sidearm and fired. Executioner blocked the bullet with his sword. Slade shot a few more rounds Executioner deflected the bullets with both blades. The villain drew Deathstroke sword impaling him through the left shoulder. Slade yelped in pain and staggered back. Slaughter raced towards him and swung his blade rapidly at Slade. How he managed to dodge the attacks he didn't know. His vision was becoming blurred with his own sword still lodged in his shoulder. Slaughter brought his own sword above his sword and slashed at him diagonally. Slade lost his balance and fell backward dodging the attack by just inches. Slade pulled the sword from out of his shoulder and screamed as he swung the bloody blade at Slaughter's ankles. The assassin jumped back. Slade drew a shuriken from his belt and threw it nailing Slaughter in the shin. Slade pressed a button causing the flying star to detonate burning his lower left leg Slaughter screamed and collapsed to the ground in pain clutching his leg in agony. Blood poured from Deathstroke's shoulder as he looked on.

Slaughter growled and picked up his sword aiming to finish off Slade. Deathstoke looked on helpless as Slaughter lumbered over to his with his sword held high. Intense pain rang through Slade's shoulder unable to defend himself as Slaughter brought his sword down on Slade Kole jumped in-between them and blocked the sword with her crystal form. Slaughter looked at her incredulous.

"I'm not going to let you harm my friend!" she said.

"Out of the way before I turn you into ice cubes." He growled.

"No! I'm not moving from this spot!" she said defiantly.

"I'm sorry you feel that way. Maybe this will change your mind!" he yelled as he swung his sword at the girl.

The blade did little but chip away at her crystal compound. Kole punched him in the stomach with her crystal fist knocking the villain back and fired a volley of crystal spikes at Slaughter piercing his arms and body. Slaughter cried out in pain as he fell back. Executioner fired his arm cannon at the girl, but Kole absorbed the blast and sent it back twice as powerful. The explosion sent him flying through the air. Kole smirked having beaten the two of them, if only temporary. Kole demorphed and looked back at Deathstroke.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

"Yeah thanks." He said.

"No problem. Come on let's get you out of here." She said picking him up.

The six foot tall Deathstroke towered over the five and a half foot tall Kole as she got the injured Titan to safety.

Starfire faced down Malchior in the center of the battlefield. The scarlet knight was looking for revenge on the damage she inflicted on him from earlier. Malchior drew his dragon sword from his newly constructed shield challenging the Tamerian to battle. Starfire stared back at him from under his visor.

"Starfire!" Robin tossed her his staff.

She caught it in the air and spun the weapon above her head and pointed it at Malchior accepting the knight's challenge. The two exchanged deathly glares and charged to meet one another in battle. Malchior brought his sword over his shoulder slinging it in the air. Star blocked it with the staff and pushed it off. The two walked around in a semi circle before Malchior jammed his sword at her, she jumped back and brought her staff straight down. Malchior blocked it with his shield and swung his sword. Star deflected it with her armor and kicked him in the chest knocking him back. The knight ran towards her and spun around he ran his sword across the armor plating on her stomach sparks flew but wasn't injured. Star smacked him in the face with her staff and got in again in the side with the opposite end. The knight staggered back a bit before striking at her again.

Meanwhile Red Star took on supervillain Blood Falcon. The Russian powerhouse stared down at the Joker's Robin as the black suited teen twirled his staff in front of Red Star. The cocky dark haired teen smiled thinking this was going to be an easy battle, Red Star was about to prove him wrong. Blood Falcon ran towards Red Star twirling his staff. The Falcon jumped in the air and brought his staff down on Red Star. The Titan blocked the staff with his forearm without so much as blinking. Blood Falcon aimed for his ribs, but Red Star grabbed the staff with his hands and wrenched it out of his hands casting the weapon aside punching the Falcon in the chest. Blood Falcon flew several feet and slid across the ground. Blood Falcon picked himself up off the ground as Red Star walked towards him. Blood Falcon drew several shurikens from his belt and threw them at Red Star. The Russian threw up his hands but was cut by the shurikens. Seeing his opportunity Blood Falcon jumped up and attacked Red Star punching him hard in the gut Falcon threw in a couple of punches and kicks. Red Star blocked them as best he could. Blood Falcon jumped and kicked him across the face knocking him sideways but still standing. Blood Falcon could see this was going to be more of a challenge than he planned. Blood Falcon dove for his staff and picked it up, tip becoming a razor sharp weapon and harpooned it at Red Star. From the corner of his eye Red Star caught the weapon in his bare hand Blood Falcon was stunned.

"No way! How did you do that?!" he yelled.

"Practice." His Russian adversary replied.

Red Star's hand glowed red melting the Falcon's staff in his grip, the Falcon looked on horrified. He had never seen anything like it.

"What are you man?!" he said.

"Your worst nightmare." Red Star replied and punched Falcon in the face.

Meanwhile Robin battled against Rorek; their swords clashed and flew like streaks of lightning. The knight and the Titan stared each other down with white hot fire burning in their eyes. Rorek recoiled his sword over his head as Robin came towards him with his sword across his chest. The Titan swung his sword; Rorek brought his blade down blocking Robin's. The knight's saber gave off a demonic white glow and began to push Robin back. But Robin wouldn't back down and pressed on putting all of his strength into his sword and began to force Rorek back. The knight glared incredulous that he was actually being overpowered by a mere human. Robin placed his foot firmly into the ground forcing all of his raw power through his muscles as he continued to push the silver knight back. He felt himself losing ground; surely this human couldn't have that much power! Robin forced his sword up, Rorek's began to quake under pressure. Robin's sword broke free. He held the sword high above his head as it began glowing bright green. The Titan yelled and struck him across the chest the beam of energy went through him. Rorek looked in disbelief as blood began to flow from the newly opened wound in his chest. He staggered back and collapsed he sword plunged into the ground. Robin stood over him his sword still glowing vibrant green as he held it at his side. Rorek was defeated but certainly not dead.

Starfire continued battling Malchior. The crimson knight and the alien warrior were deadlocked in the heat of battle. Starfire twirled her staff as she dodged an attack by Malchior and swung at the Dragon Knight. Malchior dodged the staff and fired a red energy blast from his hand shattering Star's arm guard; she jumped back as the blaze flew just inches from her face and punched him hard in the face knocking him back a couple steps. But the knight kept at it and swung his sword at the Tamerian princess. Starfire blocked it with her right wrist guard and was smashed by the end of his blade still she forged on punching him again in the face. Starfire threw another to his chest and gave him a right hook again across the cheek. Malchior kicked her shin and head butted her breaking her visor with the visor shattered Starfire returned the favor by punching him again in the mouth and sent him back a few steps. Malchior swung his sword the Tamarian grabbed the sword punching him in the stomach with her right fist and head butting him. Star pressed down on the saber and snapped it with her bare hand Star threw another punch Malchior threw up his replacement shield cracking it. Star punched him in the side with her left cracking his armor again. Star spun around and kicked him in the head as he staggered around she punched him in back breaking his armor in another place. The crimson knight fell to the ground clutching his back. Starfire grabbed him by the hair and punched him in the face knocking him to the ground.

Starfire advanced towards him; he fired a blast breaking the armor plating across Star's stomach leaving her stunned. The knight was back on his feet he kicked Starfire in the jaw and punched her in the cheek and followed it up with a roundhouse kick to the same spot. Star grabbed his ankle and threw him around in a circle, letting go of Malchoir he face planted into the ground. The knight struggled to get up Star grabbed him from behind tossed him into the air and kicked him in the chest. He crashed into a parked car picking up his shield he activated the blades on the inside of his dragon shield turning it into a shuriken and threw it at Star. Starfire backhands the shield with her wrist and sent it crashing out of his reach. Starfire brought her hands together and shot a starbolt at him. Malchior leaped high in the air before it hit. The car erupted in a fireball beneath him Starfire leaped into the air and punched him as hard as she could sending him through a streetlight bending it beyond recognition and making a crater out of the sidewalk. Starfire broke off the mangled streetlight and began beating him with it a red light emanated from underneath and blasted Starfire point blank destroying the rest of her stomach armor. The Tamaranian tumbled backwards into the air. Revealing Malchior in a dragon hybrid form with what remained of his armor. The dragon creature roared and spread his wings.

Malchior flew up to her and clawed her across the chest and stomach ripping apart her shirt. Starfire still defiant punched him as hard as she could though it didn't have any effect and resorted to blasting him at close range. The dragon roared and fled into the night. Starfire flew straight up and dropped in on him feet first in the middle of his back. The dragon fell like a stone turning the street below into another crater. Starfire hovered above charging up a starbolt, electricity surged through the powered up sphere. Malchior looked up to see her hovering above him with the amped up sphere. His eyes widened in shock Starfire threw the starbolt into the pit and erupted.

Beast Boy and Terra aided Stone and Arsenal against the remaining demon army. While on the other side of the city Kole and Deathstroke took refuge in an abandoned building allowing him time to recover from his injuries. Exhausted the young Titan sat him down next to some crates; Slade took off his helmet to breathe easier.

"You all right?" she asked.

"Yeah I'm fine." He said catching his breath.

"Those look serious." She said examining the large x-shaped wound in his chest.

"Yeah but surprisingly…I don't feel that bad." He replied.

"We should get you to a doctor." She said.

"I don't think…your likely to find one…out there." He said still panting.

"Yeah I guess your right. I just wish there was something I could do." She said.

While the two of them spoke Slaughter and Executioner made their way into the building unbeknownst to them. Slaughter drew his sword from the sheath on his back while Execution twisted his cybernetic wrist making sure his cannon mode was ready for battle. The two assassins snuck behind the crates as Kole and Slade kept talking. Slade groaned clutching his chest he let out a sharp gasp as the pain intensified. Kole pulled his hand back slightly and saw the wound close up in his chest, her eyes doubled in size.

"Slade your chest." She said stunned.

He looked down and saw that the wound had disappeared. He felt the same pain in his shoulder and could feel the flesh and muscle pulling itself back together.

"Looks like I have some sort of healing factor." He grunted.

"Too bad I was hoping I'd cut you up into little pieces." Slaughter said.

Slade switched the defensive mode and threw an arm in front of Kole to protect her from the villains.

"You have more lives than a cat." Slaughter commented.

"I can say the same about you." Replied Deathstroke.

Kole handed him his helmet and tucked it under his right arm.

"As much fun as it is been battling you, we really do need to end this." Slaughter said.

"Well you've come to the right place." Said Deathstroke.

"Prepare for your last battle Deathstroke." Executioner remarked.

"I can guarantee you one thing is that only one of us is walking out of here alive." Said Slade.

"Yeah and I can tell you which." Remarked Slaughter.

"Then let's get it on." Said Slade.

"Kole get back." He said as he slipped his helmet back on.

"OK." She said and took cover behind some crates.

Deathstroke drew his sword from the sheath on his back ready to face his rivals one last time.

"I'm taking you down once and for all." He said.

"Bring it on!" said Slaughter.

The three of them race to the middle of the room weapons drawn. Slaughter's katana singed through the air as he ran towards Deathstroke their swords clash. Flashing back and forth like streaks of lightning, their swords crossed and Deathstroke punches him in the shoulder. Deathstroke spun around looking to decapitate Slaughter. The villain leaned back barely missing the blade. As Slade spun his sword facing down and tried to impale Slaughter. Slaughter rolled away from it as he pierced the ground. Executioner got in there with a swipe of his massive blade. Deathstroke dodged it and rolled to the side. On one knee Deathstroke powered up his blade. His sword glowing bright orange, he lunged at Executioner aiming for his abdomen Ex sidestepped just missing the blade. Slade surprised him and swung his sword across the mercenary's gut. Executioner cried out in pain and fell back. Slaughter enraged by this raced towards his enemy with inhuman speed and swung his saber. Deathstroke caught the blade with his own surprising both of them, his sword still glowing. Deathstroke let out a savage yell and began to push Slaughter back. He had never felt such strength within his opponent. Deathstroke shouldered him and slashed him across the chest with his charged up saber. Filled with adrenaline he swung at his chest several more times leaving multiple gashes across Slaughter's chest. Slaughter staggered back clutching his sword blood drained from his wounds and yet he was still standing. Slade figured he must have the same abilities as him.

"Why do you keep coming back?" Slade demanded.

Slaughter just smirked as he answered.

"You want to know why? It's because your old man screwed us over." He said.

"Don't hand me that crap!" Slade yelled.

"You honestly don't believe us. Well I can't say I blame you." His adversary said.

"There's a lot more to this story than you realize." Executioner said.

Slade took a defensive stance after seeing him get up.

"Who are you guys? Answer me!" Deathstroke demanded.

"Are you sure you really want to know?" Slaughter asked.

"Why don't I go first?" said Executioner.

The hooded assassin removed the steel skull-like mask from his face and pulled down his hood revealing himself to be a much older man than anyone would have guessed. The man behind the mask looked close to 40 or 50, his face was old and wrinkled and his hair was smoke gray.

"Who are you?" Slade asked.

"The name's Bill Walsh. I was an associate of your father William Wintergreen and helped start International Search and Rescue. Your father left me to die in an avalanche. I think you know the rest." Executioner replied.

Deathstroke gritted his teeth. "Even if that was the case, my dad would have never left you behind if he knew you were alive."

"That couldn't be any farther from the truth." Walsh replied.

Deathstroke then turned his attention to Slaughter.

"And what about you?" he asked.

"Oh I'm here to kill you all right though not for the same reasons as him." He replied.

"Answer me, tell me who you are! What's the matter you as crusty-looking as he is? What do you got to hide?" Slade removed his helmet and let it drop to the ground with a resounding ring.

"You want to know who I am. Take a good look!" Slaughter ripped off his cowl a look of astonishment came across Slade's face.

The man behind the mask had long brown hair tied back in a messy ponytail and had blue eyes. The man known as Slaughter, the one that had taunted and vexed Deathstroke for so long looked just like him.

"Meet your older brother Wade DeFarge Wilson."

Slade was in complete shock.

"Brother?" he said stunned.

"Still have what it takes little brother?" Slaughter asked gripping his sword before him.

_AN: Bet you didnt see that coming. This chapter took me forever to update, I'm really sorry about the wait. Forgive me? I hope this makes up for it. Let me know what you think of it. Thanks again to all my loyal readers. _

_Please review. _

_The Green Gallant. _


	42. Author's Note

Author's Note

Hey this is Green Gallant I want to apologise to all my readers for delaying the next chapter. I'm really sorry you guys, I know how much you want to read the next chapter and I know how long you've waited to see what happens next especially since the last one was left at a cliff hanger. I just want you to know that the story is NOT over, I will continue it. I've just been busy with a lot of things especially with school. I started on the next chapter around Thanksgiving and I just havent found any time to update the story. I'm really sorry guys, I know how it is on both sides. There's just been a lot going on lately and I havent been able to keep up with my stories. Aside from some of the complications going on at school, my grandpa has been in and out of the hospital in the past few weeks which has left me a little on edge. My grandpa has been having heart problems and I'm afraid of losing him, he's 80 years old and I dont want to lose him, I'm so close to my grandparents, I dont what I'd do if anything happened to them. Which is why I've come to you guys. If you have it in your hearts, could you please pray for my grandparents. It'd really mean a lot to me to know that my friends are praying for thier well-being. I'll try and update X High School over Christmas break and try to have something up soon, I just dont know when. With the computer I have I may not be able to update until Jan. but hopefully that will give me enough time to update the chapter and continue the story. I want to thank everyone for thier support, your prayers are not forgotten, when I asked you back in chapter 32 or whenever to pray for my mom when she was going for tests in St. Louis it meant a lot to me knowing that you guys care. I got some great friends here on Fanfiction and I wouldnt trade them for the world. You've all been great, thanks for all the reviews, your kind words and suggestions and for supporting this magnificent story.

Thanks for everything guys, your the best. I'll try and get X High School updated as soon as I can. I hate to leave you guys with just an author's note after all this time. Really I feel bad for having to do that to you. But I know you understand.

Thanks again everyone,

Merry Christmas,

The Green Gallant.

Feel free to leave questions and comments.


	43. Dying Light

**Chapter 42**

**Dying Light**

"Brother?" said Slade.

"Yeah, your older brother. Wade DeFarge Wilson." Slaughter answered.

"What? How?" Deathstroke said thunderstruck.

"When our real dad was alive he was married to a French woman, I was their only child. About 7 years later he had an affair with an American woman and left us to start a family with her. That woman was your biological mother. After that he stopped sending child support and severed ties with us completely. My mom put a pistol to her head and killed herself. I was sent from one foster home to the next all over Europe. When I was in Russia I learned the art of assassination and became one of the most proficient killers of my time. By 17 I became a hired assassin offering my services to any nation. Assassinating royalty, politicians and even child molesters and drug dealers all in hopes of meeting up with the man that abandoned me and drove my mother to suicide. When I learned the Wilsons perished in the Amazon I thought my dreams at vengeance were shot. But then I found out that their only son had been taken in by their Butler and became the head of International Search and Rescue I decided to enlist in their service to get close to you and Wintergreen. That's how I came across Walsh." Wade pointed to Executioner.

"On an expedition to Siberia I attempted to shoot down the helicopter Wintergreen was in but triggered an avalanche thus sealing our fates. Through it all, your father really did try to save us, but was unable to reach us and thought that we had perished in the avalanche. The Siberian government rescued us, the scientists were experimenting in cybernetic technology and were able to rebuild Walsh's left arm thanks to the best doctors and technicians in the world. I was in a coma for 6 months; the world thought I was dead. When I had awakened I found myself in a London hospital and had to learn how to walk again. By that time Walsh had been transferred to the same hospital and after meeting up with him we realized that we had something in common and had set out to destroy the Wintergreen family and everything our enemies held dear. That is how we came across you." Wade concluded.

Slade couldn't believe what he was hearing he steadied his nerve and asked him a question.

"How old are you?"

"25. And your 18 correct?" Slaughter remarked.

"How did you know?" he asked.

"Like I said, we're 7 years apart do the math and that makes you 18. Which brings us back to my question. Do you have what it takes to defeat me little brother?" Slaughter asked.

"Looks like we're about to find out." Replied Slade.

"Then get ready. Cause this is going to get messy!" remarked his brother.

Deathstroke only glared at his brother. His partner Walsh cracked a grin at their adversary as the two of them pulled out a set of sub-machine guns better known as Uzi's (oozy) Slade's eyes widened in shock. Slaughter and Executioner opened fire on him Deathstroke ducked behind some crates as a hailstorm of bullets blasted holes in the crates. Slade went for his belt and found that he only had a pair of handguns on him and let out an F-bomb knowing he was screwed. The crates began to disintegrate his adversaries attempting to draw him out. He shook his head and drew his pistols anyway having to make do with what he had. The Terminator rose up and fired a couple shots at Slaughter and Executioner and managed to get in a hit, or so he thought. Seeing a flash above Slaughter's shoulder from where the bullet ricocheted just inches away from his brother's face. Slade made a break for it and continued firing while Executioner unloaded a volley of gunfire right back at his adversary. Slade ducked behind a larger and stronger pile of crates to reload. Executioner put away his Uzi aimed a crossbow armed with explosive arrows at the crates Slade was hiding behind and fired. Deathstroke ducked out of the way as the arrow hit blowing the stack sky high. Slade was knocked to the ground with debris falling on him. He was pinned down. Slaughter saw his chance and aimed his Uzi right at Slade's face. The Titan looked on in terror as his brother smiled maliciously and was preparing to shoot. A crystal shard flew by and knocked the Uzi out of his hand. The two turned and saw Kole hiding behind some crates.

"Kole get out of there!" yelled Deathstroke.

Executioner used his cybernetic arm cannon and fired at her. Kole threw up a wall of crystal and shielded herself from the blast. She then retaliated by breaking down the wall and launching the massive shards at the two men forcing them to take cover as the giant spikes pierced the place where they stood. Deathstroke managed to pull himself out from under the debris with the help of Kole.

"Thanks I owe you one." He told her.

"You can repay me later." She said.

"Get to safety." He replied.

"All right, be careful." She told him.

"I'll try." He replied.

With Slade back on his feet he held out his arms and called on the big guns. A pair of long barrel assault rifles and opened fire on Slaughter and Executioner turning the tables on the villains. Kole looked on as Deathstroke held his ground seemingly had them on the run. Just then Slaughter jumped off a tower of crates and drew his sword in midair ambushing Slade. Deathstroke saw him coming aimed and fired at the assassin hitting him in the chest. While he was distracted Executioner ran towards him at full burst with his sword drawn. The killer swung his sword at Slade. Deathstroke dodged it while holding his twin rifles. Bill Walsh lunged at him again with his sword and managed to catch his left rifle with his blade attempting to sever the weapon. Slaughter fell to the ground behind him as Executioner looked to overpower Deathstroke. Deathstroke swung his right hand rifle aiming it at the back of Walsh's head but Walsh caught it with his cybernetic left arm and held off the attack. Slade fired his left rifle attempting to shake him off nearly hitting the downed Slaughter. Enraged Executioner used all of his strength and threw Deathstroke back, his right hand rifle was knocked aside Executioner stood over Deathstroke with his sword in his right hand as his cybernetic left arm changed into its electronic blade mode the villain crossed his swords over Slade's throat in an "X" attempting to lop off his head. Before he could finish it, a large ball of crystal shards crashed into his back. The villain wasn't harmed but deeply annoyed as he looked over his shoulder at Kole who bravely distracts the villain the only way she knows how. Seeing his chance Slade took a knife from his belt and stabbed Executioner in the stomach. He cried out in pain as his blood stained Slade's shirt. And pushed him off with his feet knocking to the floor with the knife plunged in his gut. Walsh pulled the knife out as Slade jumped on top of him with a flying tackle. Walsh attempted to slash open Slade's stomach but the knife was knocked out of his hand when Slade landed on him and began to beat his face with a barrage of punches. Executioner remembering that he still had his swords at his disposal attempted to repeat the action with the knife from earlier and went to send both blades gliding across Slade's sides. But Slade saw the attack coming and pushed himself off before he could do such a thing. Slade flipped high in the air and landed on his knee a considerable distance away. Walsh looked up at him with disgust and slowly got to his feet.

The Titan raced towards him, Executioner picked up his sword and swung it at Slade's midsection. He flipped over the blade just missing it, now he was in his house. Coming out of the roll Slade sprang up and punched Walsh in the jaw as hard as he could knocking the assassin back several steps as he regained his footing Slade came after him again and punched him right square in the face. The assassin growled and went to attack him with his sword, Slade grabbed his wrist and twisted it outward and punched Walsh again with his right.

"I'm going to kill you!" he growled.

"Try as you might." Said Slade.

Picked Walsh up over his head and threw the assassin in the air and hit the ground hard. By this time Slaughter had rejoined the fight swinging his sword, his brother dodged it.

"What's it going to take to get rid of you?" Deathstroke asked.

"An army." His brother quipped.

"How about an Army of One?" Slade asked and lunged at his brother with a punch.

Slaughter jumped back avoiding the hit with his sword still in hand. Deathstroke drew his staff, the elder brother charged him slinging his sword through the air Deathstroke held up his staff and blocked the attack. Wade kicked his younger brother in the chest knocking him back. Deathstroke tumbled backward as his brother went after him and went to maim him with his sword. His brother toppled backward missing his left shoulder by inches Slade was back on his feet and grabbed his brother's blade punching Wade in the jaw. DeFarge grabbed him and spun throwing his little brother in the air, Deathstroke crashed headfirst into a tall stack of crates smashed through them landing on the other side, DeFarge went after him. Slade's head was spinning as he tried to bring himself around; his brother found him and went to hack him across the back with his sword. Deathstroke swung his left arm knocking Wade off his feet the assassin fell and landed on his back. Slade grabbed his brother by the legs and swept him across the floor like a human broom throwing him into a stack of crates. Deathstroke produced a shuriken from his belt and threw it at the crates; the shuriken carried with it a bomb and exploded rupturing Wade's eardrum. The assassin rolled on to his chest and screamed clutching his right ear as blood poured from its source leaving him partially deaf Slaughter looked at him murderously this time he was going to pay. He scrambled to his feet and attacked his brother plowing him into the ground and began beating his face mercilessly. Slade was helpless in throwing off the attack. Slaughter pounded away at him with his right fist hoping to break his face to make him pay for his atrocity. Slade grabbed his brother's wrist and headbutted him and grabbed Wade's hair throwing him into some metal drums. Bashing his head against the drum a second time before dropping him.

Walsh grabbed Deathstroke from behind and attempted to strangle him picking the Titan off the ground. Slade choked tried in vain to release his grip his legs flailing he elbowed Walsh but it did him no good. Just then Wade picked up an axe and threw it into Walsh's back. Walsh screamed in agony turning to see his betrayer.

"Nobody kills that kid but me, got it?!" Wade yelled.

"You bastard." Walsh groaned and collapsed to the ground freeing Deathstroke.

Deathstroke looked down at the axe in Walsh's back and turned his gaze to his brother who flashed a homicidal grin to his little brother.

"Its just you and me now." Said Wade.

DeFarg went for his sidearm an automatic machine gun to his brother's surprise and opened fire. Immediately Deathstroke abandoned the body of his assailant as Walsh was caught in the crossfire and screamed as they pierced his body. Deathstroke raced across the ground as his brother kept firing at him bullets licking his heels, he grabbed a chain and threw himself into the air as Slaughter kept firing. Slade made it up to the catwalk and kept running Slaughter tailed him never faltering for a second. The Titan made his way around the corner and made use of another chain and hurled himself at his brother taking his sidearm and returned fire at his evil brother he managed to hit Slaughter in the left shoulder, as he swung closer. He leapt from the chain and tackled his brother in mid-air nailing him to the ground. Wade punched him with his wounded arm and knocked his brother off, getting to his knees and to his feet he used his Uzi as a club and struck him across the face with the butt of his rifle Deathstroke was knocked to the ground as his brother took out a grenade and pulled the pin with his teeth and tossed it at his brother even though he was only 3 feet away, Deathstroke scrambled away as the bomb exploded and blew both of them back. Slaughter landed on his back Deathstroke lunged at him from out of the flames and dropped in on him driving his fist in his face. He came at him again with a left, Slaughter grabbed his brother's wrist and twisted it and threw him off pulling another grenade from his belt and throwing it at Slade. The teenager jumped high in the air as it went off underneath him, Slaughter launched himself into the air and nailing him with a flying punch and sent him crashing against the floor of the catwalk and falling into a stack of crates below. Slaughter tore away at the crates to get to his brother, Deathstroke got to his feet and threw a punch but Slaughter caught it and punched him in the gut, he punched him once more in the face and drove his elbow into the back of Slade's neck.

Deathstroke staggered away from his brother who continued to pursue him like wounded prey. The villain was taking great pride in his little brother's suffering. It seemed as though this would be the end of Deathstroke. Wade produced a knife from his belt and stabbed Deathstroke in the ribs and cried out in pain as his brother pulled out of blade and threw him aside. Deathstroke staggered to get away from him with most of his strength depleted he wouldn't last much longer. He was running out of options. In a last ditch effort he ran, he ran away from the enemy.

"Oh come on now Deathstroke don't make this any harder than it needs to be." His brother taunted.

He retreated back to Walsh's corpse digging the axe out of his back and threw it at Slaughter. The villain knocked it aside.

"Is that all you got?" he asked not looking at his brother.

"Let's just say I had to change my game plan." Slade replied.

"What?"

Slaughter looked up and saw that he had Walsh's arm cannon aimed at him with Walsh still attached and fired the beam at his brother. The blast was so powerful it sent him careening across the warehouse floor and crashing into some sand bags on the other side.

"Of course it doesn't hurt to think out of the box." He said dropping the arm cannon.

Slaughter dropped to his hands and knees the contents of the bags spilling out around him his brother Deathstroke raced across the floor with his saber in hand. Slaughter drew his sword as his brother lashed out at him with his sword. His saber came within inches of missing Slaughter's chest as he leaned back to avoid the blade. The next instant their swords clashed. With a renewed fire Slade attacked his brother with all the passion of his being and swung his sword many times over in an X formation with wicked speed and ferocity so much so that his brother couldn't keep up with him. Deathstroke swung his blade crossways giving his brother the closest shave of his life. He had never seen him like this and kept coming at him like he was possessed. Slaughter couldn't compare with his brother's speed and ferocity and continued to lose ground against him. Slade had been pushing him back the entire time there was no way he was going to lose to him, the fire in his eyes spoke such a truth. Nothing in this world could defeat him, be it demons or the devil himself. Deathstroke powered up his saber glowing a vibrant orange and swung his sword diagonally from the waist up tearing open his brother's left side. The force of the attack sent him spinning through the air landed a short ways away. Wade got to his knees and held his side.

"So that's the way is it?" he asked.

"Your time on Earth is over, I'm putting you out of my misery." Said Slade.

Wade smiled never looking at his brother.

"Challenge excepted." He grinned.

Slaughter powered up his sword, which glowed blood red and plunged it into the ground sending a wave of energy at Slade. Deathstroke jumped back his brother jumped in the air with sword held high to battle him one last time. He let out a battle cry as he descended on his brother and swung his blade Deathstroke flicked it to the side his brother stretched out his free hand and issued a blast of energy from his hand catching Slade off guard. The Terminator was knocked back by the attack.

"How did you do that?" said Slade.

"What you mean you can't fire balls of energy from your hands?" he asked sardonically.

"Sucks to be you. Let's see how you deal with this." he added.

Wade stretched out his arm and produced another energy ball and launched it at Slade. The Terminator dodged the energy ball at the last minute that created a massive explosion that sends him flying towards Slaughter taking advantage of it and kicks him in the chest sending him to the ground.

"Better change your game plan kid." He taunted.

Slade punched the ground and got up.

"I'm not going down that easily! I still got a few more tricks up my sleeve." He said.

Deathstroke sheathed his sword and pulled out his staff and ran towards him. Slaughter looked on with a smug grin. The Titan quickly produced two Sladearangs from his utility belt and hurled them at Slaughter. The disks extended into blade form and flew towards him instead of hitting him the boomerangs landed on either side of him and exploded drawing up a massive dust cloud Slade then took his staff and extended it sending the tip of his staff flying at DeFarg and nailing him in the chest, Slade then pole vaulted himself into the air. As he reached his peak he produced a blade shaped like an arrowhead and threw it at his brother who was directly below him. Slaughter saw it coming and ducked out of the way. The arrow blade slinked into the ground and detonated. Deathstroke landed on the catwalk above and used the other end of his staff extending it took aim and fired a blast of energy from his staff. Slaughter dodged the blast as it hit and blew a hole in the floor behind him. Deathstroke kept firing through the use of his staff. Slaughter produced the same arrow blade from his belt and hurled it at Slade. The Titan leapt off the catwalk as it exploded and tumbled after he landed. His brother swung at him with a steel pipe, Deathstroke did a set of somersaults avoiding it and getting back to his feet. He threw in a sidekick disarming his opponent for the time being. Slaughter grabbed his ankle and tossed him around in a circle before letting him crash into some crates. Deathstroke employed the broken boards and threw them at his brother which he knocked away Deathstroke came at him from behind one of the boards and punched him in the face. As he went down a knife emerged out of his foot and slashed at Slade's calf. Slaughter got back up and went to stab him in the throat with the knife.

Slade caught the knife with his hand and twisted his ankle breaking off the blade at the same time and punched him in the nuts and rattled his cage. And gave him the thunder from down under treatment. Wade doubled over and was sucker punched by Slade knocking him flat on his back. Wade held his legs up and cradled his nads and his jaw simultaneously.

"Goddamn son of a bitch I can't believe you did that!" he hissed through his teeth.

"Hey when all else fails." Said his brother.

"I'll get you for that." Wade hissed.

"You can sure as hell try." Said Slade.

Slaughter got to his knees and then to his feet all though not as steady as before, as his leg was still shaking a bit from the blow down below.

"Funny you should mention that cause this next one will be the last you'll see." Wade told him.

"I don't think so. Your days are through!" Slade said drawing his saber.

Wade charged him in a last ditch effort and powered up his blade just as he was about to strike Deathstroke dropped to one knee and spun slashing him across the stomach with his energized blade the mercenary staggered back as Deathstroke finished him with a series of strikes. The energized blade cut through his chest at different angles leaving him weakened he staggered back and knew that the last of his strength was failing. Deathstroke seeing his opportunity plunged his blade into his throat and impaled him. His body froze as Deathstroke pulled the saber from his throat and pushed him back and flicked the blood off his sword before returning it to its sheath. Slaughter reached up to his brother grabbing his ankle he had lost the ability to speak and yet was pleading his brother not to leave him this way. Slade kicked his leg free and pulled an arrowhead blade from his belt and dropped it on Wade's chest and walked off. Slaughter looked up at the blade as it started to beep his eyes widened in surprise looked back and saw his brother abandoning him.

"Please don't leave me like this…. brother!" he managed to choke out.

"I have no brother." Was his last reply.

The bomb detonated behind him blowing Wade asunder leaving behind a burning corpse as chunks of flaming human debris fell behind him. Deathstroke then planted a bomb on Executioner's body making sure that neither of them will ever plague him again once the other body had been disposed of Slade brought down the entire building in a massive explosion thus sealing the fates of Slaughter and Executioner. Their days of evil are now over.

_Author's Note: All right I promised myself I'd update this one more time before the year was over, I hope everyone liked it let me know what you think. _

_Please review. _


	44. Versus Ryan

_Author's Note: All right, I finally got around to updating. Sorry for the wait everybody, it took me a little while to get this finished. Anyway here's the next chapter of our story, as you already know Slade had defeated Slaughter and Executioner and is rejoining the team as they take on the lord of darkness himself. Enjoy. _

**Chapter 44**

**Versus Ryan**

After Slade defeated Slaughter and Executioner for the last time, the battle against Ryan's forces raged on. In the city Beast Boy and Terra were busy battling an army of demon creatures, the Titans were outnumbered and outmatched but neither of them were determined to back down. Terra threw herself into the air and hit one of the demons with a flying kick. As the monster fell back she propelled herself off the monster's chest and punched another one in the face as hard as she could. The demon grabbed Terra and threw her for a distance, but the young geomancer recovered tore open a rift in the earth as she flew across allowing several of the demons to be swallowed whole she came across and kicked another demon right square in the face and knocked him back. Terra landed on her feet safely but was still severely outnumbered. Beast Boy changed into a number of animals while battling the demons. He changed into a T-rex and did a tail whip knocking several of them to the ground. Argent was battling a tag team of demons herself and sent off several plasma blasts to defend herself.

Kole was doing the same with her crystal shards impaling some of the monsters with her attack. Stone was pounding away at a number of demons with his bear fists. One of them grabbed him from behind immobilizing the Titan; Starfire blasted the demon from off-screen distracting it. Stone lifted the demon above his head and threw it over his shoulders and plowing it into the ground. Roy was firing several shots at some of the demons with his sub-automatic machine gun and threw a couple bombs to the others on his left. Terra ripped a huge slab of earth out of the ground and spun it around dispatching several of the demons; the demons collapsed in a pile Terra then dropped the slab of earth on the demons destroying them. Argent continued to fire energy blasts but it was no use in keeping the demons at bay. Red Star was having a similar problem, no matter how many times he hit them they kept coming. Robin had his hands full with several of the demons fighting them off with his sword. As soon as one went down another one took its place.

"This is getting us nowhere!" he cried.

"There's too many of them!" said Stone.

"What do we do?" yelled Terra.

Deathstroke raced in to save his teammates on his Deathcycle launching an all-out assault on Ryan's demonic army. Firing a volley of rockets, machine-gun and laser fire on the enemy troops and managed to slay some of the enormous demons, but that didn't last long as one of the demons did a backhand and knocked Slade from his bike as he went by. The force of the attack sent him flying through the air towards another demon that drew a pair of long arm blades and got ready to slaughter him from behind at that moment Starfire intercepted him with a flying tackle knocking him out of harm's way. The two of them landed safely in the dirt with Starfire's arms surrounding him from behind. The demon that almost turned him into mincemeat drew his attention to the duo and readied to finish them off as he stood over them the monster heard a loud rumble on his right and turned to see Robin flying towards him on his motorcycle. The Titan threw his legs out to the side and kicked the demon in the face as hard as he could and sent the monster to the ground. Richard landed his bike on the other side of Deathstroke and Starfire and quickly abandoned his bike to protect them. Beast Boy, Terra and the others soon regrouped with the rest of the team.

"Nice on Robin!" said Beast Boy.

"Great job." Terra told them.

"Thanks guys." Robin said as he helped his best friend and girlfriend up.

"You guys ok?" he asked.

"Yeah we're fine." Starfire told him.

"Thanks man." Deathstroke said.

"No problem, you would have done the same." His friend replied.

The demon army was closing in on the Titans; everyone readied their defenses around Deathstroke and Starfire. Terra's hands glowed yellow, while Beast Boy took the form of a wooly mammoth, Robin drew his sword and a couple of bombs. Deathstroke drew his sword and had a shuriken ready. And Starfire powered up her fists ready to launch an all-out assault.

"This is it team! Get ready!" Robin told them.

A tongue of fire shot down from the heavens and enveloped several demons. The demons shrieked in pain as the flames continued to rain down on them. As the flames intensified the demons began turning to ash a young man landed in front of the Titans as the demons that were caught in the fiery blast disintegrated.

"Who is that?" Robin asked.

"Sorry, hope you don't mind if I drop in. I was watching you from above and thought you needed help." He said.

"Wait a minute I know that voice." Said Terra.

The young man turned around and revealed himself.

"Bryan!" She said.

"Who?" said most of her teammates.

"The name's Geo-Force I'm Terra's big brother." He told them.

"Yo, I didn't know you were a superhero." Beast Boy said.

"Who are you suppose to be?" he asked.

"Its Gar Logan, Terra's boyfriend you took us to San Francisco once." He told him.

"Oh right, I didn't recognize you for a second." Geo-Force said.

"Yeah well the green skin kind of throws it off." He replied.

"You guys can catch up later. We've got bigger things to worry about." Robin told them.

"Such as the big demon army that's trying to kill us." Terra added.

"Right, let's take care of that first." Geo-Force said.

"You never did take anything seriously." Terra told him.

"Why start now?" he joked.

Terra only shook her head.

"Don't worry we're the good guys, we'll get through this." he told them.

"I hope your right about that." replied Stone.

"You know this is actually my first time meeting you guys…I just wish it was under better conditions." Bryan told them.

"If we live that long." Said Stone.

"Guys come on let's focus!" Robin told them.

"Robin's right if we're going to beat these guys we have to work as a team." Deathstroke added.

"Or we could just take them down individually. Like this!" Geo-Force said and went on the attack.

"Wait!" Robin yelled.

"Don't worry. Trust me this guy's a one-man wrecking crew." Terra told them.

Geo-Force raced towards the enemy and punched a demon across the face knocking it back several steps. And continued to pound away at the demon with a flurry of punches another demon came at him. Geo-Force grabbed the creature by its torso and hurled it through the air. And powered up his fist as he punched another one right square in the face. Two more demons jumped on him and hold him down. Robin and the others run to assist him but Geo-Force by pure strength alone managed to throw them off he punched the earth with his bare hand and fractured the ground sending fissures towards the enemy opening up rifts in the earth. Geo-Force punched the ground again and again spewing out magma the demons retreated from the molten lava. Geo-Force yelled as his hands began glowing yellow tearing open the earth more and more blowing the tops off revealing pools of molten lava.

"Everyone get back!" he yelled.

He manipulated the lava to his will and sent it flooding towards the demon forces swallowing them and reducing them to skeletons. He sent it advancing farther soon growing into a tidal wave of lava melting everything in it's path. And was headed towards Ryan. The demon lord smirked and diverted the lava past him with a swing of his staff like a perverse version of Moses that left everyone including Geo-Force stunned.

"Foolish boy, did you really think you can get rid of me that easily?" he taunted.

"What the hell is this guy? I've never seen anyone divert an attack like that." Geo-Force said out of breath.

"Unfortunately that's the guy we're fighting against." Robin told him.

"Sort of figured that but who is he?" he asked.

"That's Ryan Trigon, he's Raven's brother." Terra informed him.

"Who the heck's Raven?" he asked.

"She was one of our friends, Ryan is a powerful demonic entity from another dimension he used Raven to open a gateway that allowed him into our world." Beast Boy told him.

"Is there anyway we can defeat him?" Bryan asked.

"He's too powerful we can't even touch him." Terra replied.

"Where's the Man of Steel when you need him?" he asked rhetorically.

"It doesn't matter what kind of game plan you come up with, cause I'll win everytime." Ryan said with the utmost confidence.

"Maybe not the Man of Steel. But how about a Man of Earth?" Gregory Markov said stepping forward.

The Titans looked up and saw an older man in a white dress shirt and a stripped tie standing on a hill above them.

"What the?" said Robin.

"Greg!" cried Terra.

"What are you doing here?" asked Bryan.

"Your not the only ones with superpowers in this family." The elder Markov told them.

"But what about your family?" Bryan asked him.

"Terra's my family…. and so are you. Its time that we put the past behind us." Greg told him.

The eldest brother came down the hill and approached Bryan.

"We may have opposing viewpoints but there's one thing we've always had in common and that's the well being of our little sister. I can't think of a better time for us to come together. Let's take this guy together as brothers." Greg told him.

"And sister." Terra added.

The young Titan held both of her brothers by the wrist guiding them into a handshake. Taking their cue the brothers shook hands and made peace with each other.

"A touching sentiment, now I'll have the pleasure of destroying all of you together." The Dark Lord taunted the family.

Robin stood in front of the Markovs and pointed his finger at Ryan.

"And we cant wait to kick your butt." He told the demonic master.

"Everyone ready?" Deathstroke called.

"Ready!" yelled Starfire.

"Ready!" yelled Beast Boy.

"Ready!" shouted Terra.

"Ready!" yelled Geo-Force.

"Ready!" yelled Greg.

Ready!" cried Robin.

"Bring it on." Ryan told them.

The Titans along with Bryan and Greg attack Ryan all at once. The demon lord smirked as they call came at him. The demon swung his staff and sent several of them flying. Deathstroke, Robin, Geo-Force, Terra and Beast Boy recovered and went on the offensive. Robin drew his staff while Slade drew his sword the two made contact Ryan blocked the attacks with his right arm holding off the attacks with little effort.

"What?" said Robin.

"Impossible!" cried Slade.

"Is it?" Ryan asked as Geo-Force attacked him from behind with a flying punch.

Ryan blocked his punch with his right hand, the same one he was using to hold off Robin and Deathstroke.

"How did you…?" yelled Geo-Force.

"Fools, your petty attacks are no match." He said.

He grabbed Bryan's hand and threw him over his shoulder at Robin and Slade and sent them to the ground in a pile. Terra jumped at him from behind, Ryan whipped around and zapped her with his power staff holding her in the air with a red aura from his crystal.

"Terra!" Beast Boy yelled.

The demon lord threw Terra like a rag doll, Beast Boy changed into an ape-like form and pounded the ground with his fist, the earth cracked and a rift was sent towards him. The demon levitated off the ground mocking him. Beast Boy lunged at him with all his primal fury the demon simply grabbed his shoulder and tossed him to the wayside like he did with the others. Starfire came at him launching a flurry of star bolts at the demon king. Ryan pointed his staff and put up a force field. Her eyes glowed and broke through the shield with a powerful punch surprising Ryan tackling the demon king and pushing him back several feet.

"I don't understand, you shouldn't be this strong!" he declared.

"You have no idea what I am capable of!" she yelled eyes still glowing as she zapped him in the face with her eye beams.

The blast was great enough to send him skidding back even further before hitting a wall.

"Impressive!" he said firing a laser blast from his staff that sent her flying across the street.

"But not enough!" he finished.

While he's distracted Greg rips a concrete pillar from its foundation and bum rushes him from behind. The hero got his attention.

"Hey handsome!" the villain turned as Greg swung the pillar shattering it and sent him flying making a line drive off Ryan.

"Catch." He smirked.

The villain crashed into the nearby interstate bridge smashing through the concrete barrier and into the path of a red Ford sedan surprising the driver and everyone else on the highway overpass. Geo looked at his older brother in amazement.

"Nice shot!" he commented.

"Hey somebody had to do It." His brother replied resting the base of the pillar on his shoulder.

An explosion resounded as Ryan emerged and began tearing up the bridge. The Lord of Darkness lifted his scepter above his head as the columns that supported the bridge began to splinter. Using his demon magic he lifted the entire bridge off its tresses and into the air. Ryan looked on with a malicious smile it was clear what he was about to do. The Titans looked on in terror as innocent people screamed.

"Put them down!" Robin yelled.

The demonic overlord chuckled; the Titan's demand was music to his ears.

"Ok." He said and sent the massive structure flying towards with the innocent in tow.

"Why did you say that?" asked Beast Boy.

The bridge came crashing down on top of them there was nothing any of them could do to stop it, a massive dust cloud rose up that blanketed the area. Ryan hovered directly above the site of impact, he smirked fully satisfied as his cape flowed in the breeze there wasn't any way they could have survived that. But as he gazed through the dust and smoke he saw faint traces of yellow coming from under the destroyed bridge. Trigon growled at this troubling discovery, the Markovs were holding up sections of the bridge and there seemed to be a fair number of survivors above them. This infuriated the demon master as he was expecting to fell them in one clean sweep. Geo-Force turned to his siblings.

"How you guys holding?" he asked.

"Been better." Terra said.

"It's been a while since I've done this, but I'm doing just fine." Greg told them.

They were beginning to struggle underneath the bridge's weight.

"These guys are more resilient then I thought." Ryan muttered to himself.

"Let's see how they deal with this." he said and pointed his staff at them.

But before he could strike, an explosion of yellow energy erupted from underneath the destroyed bridge as a pillar of spiraling energy flew towards him catching Ryan by surprise inside the beam was Geo-Force, Terra and Richter their older brother. The triad of power barreled towards him. Ryan threw up a red energy shield with his staff, but the trio breached it and nailed him with lethal accuracy. Ryan screamed in pain as the torrent of energy washed over him tearing apart his shirt, the monarch of evil was forced to retreat from the blast and looked down and saw that they actually drew blood. This was impossible, he thought. The three emerged from the power cylinder and hovered above him. The demon monarch growled at them as his shirt and body repaired themselves. The Markovs were stunned by this but weren't willing to back down, not with the progress they've made.

"I suppose you're the more powerful members of this team!" he growled.

"You could say that." Geo-Force quipped.

"We're taking you down Ryan." Richter added.

"Its over!" Terra remarked.

The demon lord chuckled to himself.

"Far from it my friends. The war has just begun!" he said.

Holding his staff above him, an x-shaped ring of energy erupted from his crystal that knocked the three of them into the side of a building. Ryan lowered himself to the ground to face the rest of the Titans.

"When will you get it through your thick skulls that I'm invincible?" he said with confidence.

"There hasn't been a villain yet we couldn't defeat!" Robin told him.

"And if you think we're going to lose, you got another thing coming." Said Stone.

"First time for everything." Ryan taunted.

"Attack!" Robin yelled.

With the Markovs incapacitated the remaining Titans charged into battle against Ryan. The demon lord smiled as they came at him. Robin was the first one to attack with his saber, the Titan swung his blade Ryan dodged it. The red Titan swung at him a few more times before Ryan hit him in the gut and knocked him back. Starfire, Deathstroke and Stone were the next ones to attack. All three of them came at him simultaneously. Ryan blocked all of them with the flat of his hand issuing a blast of red energy that knocked Star and Deathstroke back. Stone held his ground and resumed attacking him. The golem Titan threw a couple punches at him but couldn't land a single one, Ryan grabbed his leg and threw him in the air. Terra flew in and sent several boulders careening towards Ryan destroyed them with little effort and sent Terra flying with another energy ring. Geo-Force replaced his sister with fists ablaze and got up in his business and threw several punches at the demon lord Ryan dodged the attacks with relative ease. Blocking his last punch Bryan spun around with a windmill and punched him in the jaw, the blow was sufficient enough to knock him back a step. The Titan nailed him with a flaming punch to the stomach, which seemed to stun Ryan momentarily. Ryan grabbed him by the head and threw him like a rag doll across the dirt. Deathstroke fired several shots from his machine gun; Ryan simply blocked them with his cape and sent them off in the Titans direction.

Starfire flew in towards him and landed a deadening punch to the head. Ryan grabbed her wrist and placed his crystal scepter against her abdomen and sent her flying. Robin caught the falling Starfire in his arms as Terra came at him once again. But jumped back as Richter sent a flaming cyclone in his direction enveloping the monarch of darkness. Ryan broke free from the fire cyclone and raced towards Richter punching him in the face and knocking the older man to the ground. Geo-Force grabbed him from behind as Stone, Terra and other Titans grabbed onto him.

"Let go of me!" he yelled.

The demon released a burst of energy that sent them all flying. Ryan went after Geo-Force and landed a series of punches. Nailing him several times in the face knocking him farther and farther back. Stone went to help but was deflected by an energy blast from his staff. Terra grabbed onto him, but Ryan grabbed her by the shirt, swung the young girl around his head and slammed her into the ground face first.

"Terra!" Bryan yelled.

"Your next." Ryan smirked and went to punch him; Geo-Force blocked it and held his fist in place.

"You monster!" He yelled.

Bryan held his ground against the demon, and actually picked him up off the ground and flipped him over his shoulders with both hands slamming Ryan into the ground making a crater. Ryan chuckled and twisted Geo-Force's hands, his wrists began to crack as he sent Bryan through the air with a massive surge of evil energy. The Titan landed 30 feet away. Ryan was back on his feet as the rest of the Titans attack him once more. The demon lord jumped in the air and fired another blast from his staff that stopped them dead in their tracks; the blast grew more powerful and threw Starfire, Deathstroke, and Stone back. Robin somehow managed to hold his ground and fought on. Ryan admired this and increased his power. Robin went for his sword and held it crossways blocking the energy with all of his might; Robin flung his sword and sent the energy wave sailing past him leveling a skyscraper.

"How is that possible?" Ryan asked.

"Because I never give up, under no circumstances whatsoever!" Robin told him.

The Titan leaned heavily on his sword after dispatching the wave.

"And neither do I." Bryan said getting back up.

"Nor do we." Said Slade as he and the rest of the Titans got up.

"As long as there are those willing to fight, you'll never be rid of us." Robin said.

Ryan looked around impressed that they were still willing to fight and chuckled to himself.

"Let the games begin." he told them.

"Titans ready!" Robin yelled.

_Author's Note: All right, I know its been a long time since I updated. But the good news is I kept my promise from last time and updated the last chapter before January just like I said. Anyway I didnt really like the way this chapter ended but its still pretty good I think. Which brings me to my next question. How do you think Raven should be revived? I cant think of a logical way to bring her back myself, so I thought I'd bring in a little audience participation. So how would you like to see her brought back? And what do you think should happen in the next chapter of X High School. Write in with your suggestions. _

_Please review. _

_Green Gallant. _


	45. Return of the Light

_Author's Note: All right sorry I'm so late I should have updated this sooner I really should have. I've been busy with school and updating other stories. I hope I havent lost too many of my readers in the past 2 months. Anyway I've been working on this for a while ande made a promose to myself that I would update this before I went home tonight, otherwise I wouldnt be able to update till monday no USB port. Anyway again, I hope everyone likes this chapter. I worked extra hard on this. heh heh. So here' the long awaited 45th chapter of our story. Return of the Light. _

**Chapter 45**

**Return of the Light**

"Titans Ready!" Robin yelled.

"You can't take me!" Ryan told them.

"We're about to prove you wrong." Robin replied.

"Attack!" Deathstroke yelled.

The Titans charged into battle with weapons drawn. Slade opened the gate with a volley of machine gun fire at Ryan. The demon smirked and threw up his right arm blocking most of the bullets one managed to graze his shoulder. He growled and looked at the wound in annoyance.

"Hiyah!" Robin yelled as he launched himself at Ryan with his staff drawn.

The demon looked back and could see Robin spinning his staff high above his head he punched the Titan in the chest his bones cracked as he was suspended in the air and thrown to the ground. Starfire was the next to attack her hands glowing green as she nailed him with a supercharged power punch the demon staggered back a bit. Terra flew at him riding a set of jagged rocks and launched them at the demon king. He blasted the jagged slabs with his staff. Stone came in after them and punched him in the face throwing him back several feet.

Starfire launched a volley of starbolts at the man and exploded within inches of him. He shot a blast of energy from his staff and knocked her out of the air. Beast Boy was the next to attack in the form of an alligator and sunk his jagged teeth into Ryan's chest. The demon groaned as he chewed on his flesh. Starfire and Deathstroke flew into the air and fired at his face direct hit. The demon fell backward for the first time in the battle with Beast Boy still gnawing on his chest. He stabbed Beast Boy in the eye with the bottom of his staff forcing him to relinquish his grip and was met with a blast from Ryan's staff the Titan flew backward with blood flowing from his left eye.

"Beast Boy!" Terra yelled.

Her eyes glowed yellow as she summoned her strength and transformed the earth into a giant hand that grabbed Ryan as he lay on the ground. And crushed him in its grip she threw her arms up launching the giant arm into the sky with Ryan screaming. Starfire flew into the finish the job and smashed into Ryan destroying the giant earthen hand and sent him crashing back to earth. Stone threw himself at Stone and punched the ground breaking apart the street and sent him into the air once more. The demon crashed into a giant neon Coca-Cola sign that was on the front of a skyscraper the sign explodes and a shower of sparks fall on the city. The demon lord lay in the sign's wreckage, they were a lot tougher than he gave em credit. He couldn't believe their collective strength.

"So this is why my men couldn't defeat him." he thought to himself.

"And we're not even at full strength yet." Starfire said.

He let out a gasp and looked to his right and saw Starfire floating next to him. And punched him in the face. The demon was knocked from the cleft in the building and crashed onto the roof of a bus from a 40-foot fall. Starfire leaped off the sign and freefalls to meet him, her arms swept back and picked up speed the demon's eyes widened in surprise.

"This is for Raven!" she yelled.

With the force of an atom bomb Starfire tore through the center of the bus with a double fisted punch that triggered a catastrophic explosion consuming the street corner in a massive fireball. Robin and the others ran towards the explosion but the excessive heat kept them at bay.

"Starfire!" Robin yelled.

The fireball quickly swallowed everything in its path melting cars and blowing out windows and scorching the sides of local businesses the fireball grew to 30 feet as it continued to bubble and boom. Robin dropped to his knees he couldn't believe what had happened. Then from out of the fireball they saw a figure coming towards them.

"Is that?" asked Stone.

"It has to be!" Terra said.

"Starfire!" Robin yelled.

The Titan came out of the fiery mess, half of her shirt was torn off hanging from the shoulder and the armor on her left thigh and upper right arm had melted. Her visor was completely destroyed and her hair was a mess with some minor burns along her face and body but seemed to be ok for the most part. The Titan leader threw his arms around her thankful that she made it. Her red hair was charred and a tiny flame the size of a pen head burned a strand of hair. He covered it with his glove and put it out. Her face was black but her green eyes shone through. A light chuckled escaped his lips.

"Why did you do that?" he asked.

"Spur of the moment." She answered.

The Titan leader laughed and kissed her lips they tasted like charcoal but he didn't care as he drew her back into his chest thankful she was alive. Unfortunately she wasn't the only one. Somehow Ryan had managed to survive the hellish blast walking away with nothing more some tattered edges along his cape and a few holes burned into it. The Titans got into defensive stance as he approached them.

"Bravo, I never thought you carried that much power. You executed that move quite well, too bad it wasn't enough to stop me." He growled.

"At least it was enough to slow you down." Robin told him.

"True, but slowing me down isn't stopping me. Not that you ever will." He replied.

"We'll see about that!" Robin said.

Geo-Force threw his hand in front of Robin.

"We'll handle this. Yo, Russian dude you with me?" he said to Red Star.

"Sure!" he replied.

"Let's take him!" Bryan yelled.

Geo-Force and Red Star rushed at him calling on their powers. Bryan's glove was a blaze as flames coursed through his hand. Leonid's hand was also glowing red as they ran at him full burst. Ryan smirked as the two came at him and punched him simultaneously, Ryan grabbed their fists without trouble stopping them dead in their tracks but the Titans had other plans transferring their power into their opposite hand and reaching for his chest they unleashed a hellish blaze of fire and nuclear energy. The blast was strong enough to throw him back as the rest of the Titans went to battle.

Robin drew his sword and threw himself into the air bringing it down on Ryan's head. But the demon lord locked his hands together and blocked the blade. While Starfire and Beast Boy went on the offensive Star blasted him in the side at ultra close range. BB got him with a T-Rex tail and sent the master flying. Stone intercepted him in the air and plowed his fist into the demon's chest while Richter towards him as he fell and bulldozed him into the ground. The demon flipped backwards onto his feet and was back in the fray as Beast Boy, Starfire, Terra, Geo-Force, Richter and Robin surrounded him on all sides.

He heard a rumble and looked up to see Slade flying at him on his motorcycle the rest of the Titans cleared the way as he landed on top of him. The demon lord crossed his arms to block with Slade's front tire grinding away at his arm. The friction generated by the tire was getting to be too much for him, when Slade opened a compartment underneath his bike and fired a rocket at him. The rocket sent him flying into an abandoned skyscraper and blew it up. The front tire came crashing down leaving a skid mark in the pavement. But the rocket did little to slow him down as a larger explosion destroyed the storefront. And Ryan came out of it nearly unscathed. And was not amused.

Ryan drew out his staff from under his cloak and pointed it at the team setting off a flurry of crimson fireballs the team scattered as the beams hit blowing away large chunks of pavement. The demon lord was not to trifle with. Out of nowhere Robin dropped down from above and him in a headlock. The demon struggled to get him off Starfire flew at him while he was distracted and punched him in the stomach as hard as she can sending he and Robin flying back. Robin released his grip and stepped off Ryan's head before crashing into the side of an armored car. Robin landed safely on his knee. The demon lord raised his head slightly and glared. He had enough. Suddenly the armored car floated in the air behind him he turned to see Terra wielding the vehicle on a stalagmite. Her hands glowed yellow as she tossed the truck in the air and landed directly on top of him. Stone and Geo-Force leaped in the air and pounded the truck with their fists driving Ryan even further underground. But it was short-lived as the truck started to glow red.

"Clear the area!" Robin yelled as the others started to retreat.

A massive explosion sends the truck hurdling 40 feet in the air and crashing down in a cartwheel on the other side of the street. Ryan rose out of the bit his entire body glowing ethereal red. Now he's pissed.

"You guys are going to pay!" he growled in his demonic voice.

Trigon pointed his staff at the team and blasted them with a ray of his unholy energy that sent the team flying up the street in a heap. Ryan stepped onto solid ground and slowly made his way over to them. The power he was giving off so intense the road cracked every step he takes. He meant what he said he was about to wreak his unholy vengeance. The street buckled with every step he takes towards them there wasn't a doubt that this time he meant business. The Titans began to pick themselves up off the ground as the demon lord walked towards them.

"Get ready guys." Robin told the team.

The gang heard a low rumble coming from behind them, Starfire turned around to see a tanker truck coming towards them.

"What the hell?" she said.

"Heads up guys!" Roy yelled driving the rig.

The Titans got out of there like a bat out of hell as the tanker plowed into Ryan at full force. But the demon lord stood his ground and the cab imploded nearly crushing Roy in the process and forcing the massive engine block through the hull. Ryan smirked, as he got ready to blow it sky high. A translucent red energy ball formed in his hand as he pressed against the destroyed rig and released it, he could feel the truck being ripped apart around him but at the same time Roy felt a strange force envelop him teleporting him out of the truck as it went off in a massive fire ball. His comrades looked on in shock fearing the worst has happened.

"Roy!" Robin yelled.

"No!" Terra said.

"It can't be!" Beast Boy said.

Arsenal appeared right next to them dropping down on his knee his teammates turned to see him alive and well.

"Your alive!" Robin yelled.

"We thought you were done for!" Said Stone.

"What were you thinking?" Robin asked him.

"Apparently nothing. That didn't play out the way I planned." He told him.

"How did you get back here?" Stone asked.

"Damned if I knew one minute I'm in the truck the next I'm here with you guys. Its like someone pulled me out of there. Guess it wasn't my time yet." He said.

"You guys need to stop going kamikaze on me I don't know how much more of this I can take!" said Stone.

"We need to get his staff away from him. It may be the only way we can defeat him." said Robin.

"Easier said than done Boy Wonder." Said Stone.

"How do you propose we do that?" asked Beast Boy.

"I think I have just the thing for that. You up for another double team?" Geo-Force said to Red Star.

"Sure." He nodded.

"Let's pound the crap out of him." said Geo.

"You got it!" Red Star told him.

"Don't forget us!" Beast Boy said.

"Wouldn't dream of It." He smiled.

Geo-Force's hand began to glow orange-red and flames spiraled around his fist and pulled his ski visor down over his eyes.

"Let's take him!" yelled Richter.

Geo-Force and the other Titans charged in launching a burst of fire with Star hurling her energy bolts at Ryan. The demon blocked the attacks with ease with the use of his staff. Bryan summoned another tidal wave of magma that swallowed the demon lord again he shielded himself inside a force field. The Titans continued their assault on him. Ryan smirked knowing they couldn't get past his shield.

The earth explodes behind him Geo-Force flew at him with a flaming punch to the base of the spine. The Dark Lord screamed as Bryan pounded away at him with a series of power punches in the same spot, the force field collapsed as Bryan punched him in the cheek and knocked him to the dirt. The Demon Lord tried to regain his footing but Bryan grabbed his ankles and spun him around released him into the air. Kori intercepted him with a punch to the head and knocked him back to terra firma where Bryan tackled him from behind and drove him face first into the ground. The demon's aura surged and sent Geo-Force flying skyward.

The other Titans rushed towards him but Ryan blasted them away with his hand. He spun and shot Bryan out of the sky with his staff. Richter came at him with a series of quick jabs but Ryan was too fast for him and decked him with one punch. Starfire tackled his midsection and forced him into the side of the building. Ryan grabbed her by the throat and blasted her with his staff throwing her to the ground.

Beast Boy turned into an alligator again but Ryan blasted his mouth and almost blew a hole through him. Terra tackled him but punched her in the face. Robin raced towards him with his staff spinning high above his head. The demon severed his staff with one blast. Robin quickly went for his birdarang and tied him up with it. Ryan snapped the line and sent out a blast of his evil aura that sent the Teen Wonder flying. Stone and Argent were the next ones to attack him. Ryan knocked Argent down with an energy blast Stone wont go down as easily. The golem jumped in the air and landed in front of him threw a punch at Ryan the demon grabbed his wrist and held his crystal up to his chest and blasted him.

Kole threw crystal shards at him. Ryan's force field shattered them. Red Star came at him once more. The Dark Lord fired multiple blasts from his staff. Red Star powered on through punching at every laser blast and fired his atomic energy at the Dark Lord. Ryan's force field still held as he punched at it. He smirked from behind it. Slade opened fire on the shield with a machine gun that had no effect. A large rock formation flew high above them and crashed down on the shield. Leonid and Slade got clear as it made contact. The giant formation glowed crimson and exploded into a million pieces, as Ryan emerged from it unscathed. He dusted off his shirt as it came out of it.

"Is that the best you got?" he asked.

The Titans were stunned, they threw every conceivable attack they had and yet everything they tried couldn't slow him down. This was unreal!

"This has been a lot of fun Titans, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to end this now. You were all worthy adversaries. Good bye." He said charging his staff his opponents too stunned to move.

At the last moment his arm froze no matter how much he tried he couldn't move it. His arm hung in the air completely stiff.

"What…what is this? I can't move!" He said through his teeth.

"Your not the only one with power." Came a familiar voice.

"There's no way! You can't be alive!" he gritted.

"I am alive. You may have taken away my body but you'll never be rid of my spirit!" the girl said.

"No! I'm losing control of my own body!" he groaned.

"And its only the beginning." The voice said.

"Is that who I think it is?" Robin said.

The Demon Lord struggled to control his body but was completely frozen. There was nothing he could do; he was taken over by an unknown entity. It was then his body started to glow and beams of white shot from his chest he was completely paralyzed all the Dark Lord could do was watch in horror

"What's going on?" said Slade.

"I dont know!" Kori replied.

The rays became consistently brighter Ryan's body began to contort as a large pair of black wings began to emerge from his back the Titans didnt know what to make of this. His face changed back and forth from human to demon and he screamed in pain everyone stood in shock as the rays of light continued to grow as if he was a gateway to another demention as the chasm in his chest grew into an oval shape the Titans could see someone coming through on the other side. Though Ryan did his best there was nothing he could do to stop it. He howled in pain as an unearthly sound eminated from his chest the beam of light shot of out his chest and so did a young woman dressed in white and landed on the ground on one knee. The bird wings instantly disappeared and an asterial spirit flew from the void in his chest. Ryan regained his normal form and was thrown to the ground. The young girl stood up and turned to face him, her body clothed in a white robe with long lavender hair that swept over her shoulders. The Titans were amazed by what they saw.

"I told you, you couldnt keep me locked away forever." she said.

"Nagh! How did you escape?" he growled.

"Wouldnt you like to know?" she asked.

Robin and the others were completely stunned.

"It's Raven!" yelled Robin.

_Author's Note: All right you asked for her, you wanted her now Raven is back among the living and ready to make her brother pay for the atrocities he caused. BTW, do you think I should keep Robin's line or change it? Let me know what you think of all this. Again I'm sorry I took so long to update, I'll try not to be as neglegent next time. haha. _

_Please review. _

_Green Gallant_


	46. The Demon Unleashed

_Author's Note: Hey guys sorry it took so long to update. I 'm really sorry for that, as of now I declare the story officailly off hiatus. And I wil finish out the rest of the story which should conclude in a few chapters. And I'm happy to announce that there will be a sequel planned that takes place in college. I hope you guys like this, so be on the lookout for the next 2 or 3 updates. _

**Chapter 46**

**The War's Over**

"Raven your back!" Slade yelled.

The Titans all ran over to her Slade was the first one to engulf her in a hug from behind as the others all laid hands on her.

"I'm so glad your back." He said tears started to well up in his eyes.

He turned her around and gave her a kiss on the lips.

"I thought I'd never see you again." he said.

"We all did." Robin told her.

Terra, Starfire and even Beast Boy and Stone swallowed them in a massive group hug.

"This is awesome!" Vic said.

It wasn't until Robin finally gave in and joined in the hug.

"How did you escape? How-how did you survive?" he asked.

"When my body was destroyed opening the gate he sealed my essence within himself. I was about to pull myself together and then I used my magic to open a portal inside of him." she said.

"Well its good to have you back." Robin said.

"Its good to be back guys." She told them.

"Don't think this changes the odds little sister, even with your combined power you don't have what it takes to beat me!" Ryan said.

Raven looked up from the group over at her brother.

"Don't bet on it." She said.

The team broke their hug and cleared the way for a newly revived Raven.

"Hey what's with the white clothes?" Beast Boy asked.

"Let's just say I feel a change coming on." She told him.

"Give it your best shot." Ryan told her.

"With pleasure." She replied.

The rest of the Titans stepped back to give her room. She earned this. Raven held out her hand and a white flash appeared in her hand was a staff identical to Ryan's but the crystal ball was white and had a golden bird figure at the base of the gem.

"Crystal Staff of Azarath!" she called holding out the mythical weapon.

"Need a hand Raven?" her boyfriend smirked.

"Sure." she smirked never looking back at him.

"Let's take him!" he yelled.

"Bring it on!" Ryan yelled.

Raven's crystal started to glow and produced a series of energy balls that floated towards her teammates partically Beast Boy.

"Guys here." she said.

"What is this?" he asked holding the energy ball.

"The ultimate power up." she told him.

"Go for it." Robin told him.

Beast Boy implanted the energy ball into his chest, immediatly he felt it's effects take over. A strange feeling came over him, at first he felt kind of light headed and then a tingleing sensation came over his body he could feel something changing inside him. His muscles started to grow. Beast Boy groaned as his body grew larger and more defined as they appeared through his black long sleeved shirt.The power was growing even faster as his eyes started to turn yellow. Beast Boy crossed his arms and his shirt began ripping apart at the seams the guys throught he was going to turn into the Incredible Hulk. His green hair started to grow out already down to his waist as the rest of his shirt and vest exploded off as he took on a more primal form and long green hair started to accumulate all over his body and grew to be 7-8 feet tall everyone was astonished by what was happening, his face changed transforming him into a massive green werewolf.

"Whoa!" Robin said.

"Terra try yours." Raven advised.

The young girl was afraid of what she'd turn into but relented anyway and absorbed the energy sphere she felt her power soar as a wave of yellow firey energy shot in the air and felt her muscles grow a little bit making her physically stronger putting her on par with the others. Robin absorbed his and felt his strength grow in the same manner as Terra's only with a green energy flare and then red. His muscles slightly larger and his strength amplified Robin felt like he could take on Ryan by himself.

"Whoa! This is amazing!" he said.

The others took thiers and felt thier power grow a bit putting everyone on equal standing. But not as strong as Ryan himself thier combined strength would be more than a match for him.

"Now it's on." Raven said as she took a bit of the power herself making herself a little bit stronger physically.

"So you made everyone stronger, big deal I'm still going to wipe the floor with you guys." Ryan said.

"Dont be so sure." his sister smirked. Ryan growled and removed his red and black cape.

"Come on!" he said.

"You ready?" Raven asked.

"Oh yeah." Robin told her.

"Teen Titans!"

"Go!" the team yelled.

"Bring it on!" he told them.

The Titans all charged him together, Slade drew a pair of submachine guns and opened fire on him. Ryan raced towards them with the bullets bouncing off his chest. He punched Deathstroke in the chest and knocked him back. Raven punched him in the cheek knocking him sideways. Kori kneed him in the face and then kicked him. Bryan jumped past Kori and punched him in the face. Robin tackled his midsection and plowed him into the ground. Beast Boy lunged over them with his claws drawn while Robin tumbled away, Ryan kicked Beast Boy in the chest and knocked him aside. Starfire came at him again with a punch to the face. Ryan dodged it and punched her in the stomach and then in the face. Geo-Force came at him again wearing a pair of brass knuckles and swung at him. Ryan grabbed his fists and kicked him in the chest. Vic flew past him and punched Ryan in the face and knocked him back. Raven tackled his midsection while Richter flew at him with a roundhouse kick to the face. Starfire opened fire on him hitting him in the face while Raven pressed her staff against his side and fired a pulse into him. The Dark Lord groaned as he grabbed Raven by the hood. The Titan backhanded him with her right and punched with her left. Ryan grabbed her left and threw her crossways. Robin came at him and smashed his ribs with his staff. Stone punched him in the face and knocked him back a step. Beast Boy clawed his chest leaving deep gashes in him. Robin punched him in the side as Terra came at him with a flying kick to the face. Ryan put up a barrier and launched it and sent them flying in every direction. Starfire came at him with another punch. Ryan grabbed her fist and flipped her over his head slamming her into the ground.

Terra powered up and tore up the ground sending a path of earthen plates towards them with a volcanic eruption below his feet sending the Dark Lord in the air.

Geo-Force and Stone flew into the air and punch him into the chest simotanious and plow him into the ground. Geo fired a burst of heat at the Dark Lord frying him, or tried to at least as the burst was strong enough to propell them back. Ryan stood up in the midst of the black smoke eyes glowing red. The Dark Lord picked up his staff and ran towards them. Robin intercepted him with a high flying power kick and knocked him back. The Titans leader engaged in one on one battle with him using thier staffs. Their weapons clash as they try to best each other neither willing to surrender to the other. Ryan swung his staff at Robin's head the Titan leader dodged it and brought his staff upward slamming him in the jaw, Ryan staggered back as the Titans leader stood defiant.

"Your going to pay for that." he growled and took another swing at him.

Robin dodged it and punched him in the ribs and did a roundhouse kick to his head. His head snapped around but never lost his footing and fired a beam from his staff that sent Robin flying into some junk. Starfire replaced him and engaged him in single combat. The two exchange blows, throwing punches at each other. Starfire crossed her arms and blocked his punch. Star summoned an energy bolt and attempted to hurl it at him. Ryan grabbed her wrist and twisted it away from him and punched him in the face with his free hand. Star staggered back but Ryan kept her attached and kicked her in the chest. The Titan was getting fed up with this and headbutted him before punching him with a starbolt charged fist to the face. Punched him in the stomach not long after that. The Titan spun around and wacked him across the neck with her forearm before spinning back around and kicking him in the face forcing her to let go. Starfire brought her hands together and fired at the ground and sent him sliding back. Star launched herself into the air with a backflip and kicked him in the chest as hard as she could before zapping him in the chest with a starbolt 4 inches away. Ryan groaned and knocked her out of the way. Stone and Terra threw themselves towards him.

Stone punched him in the chest as he landed while Terra did a tornado kick to the same region while Stone punched him in the face knocking him back several steps. Terra's hands started to glow as she launched a stream of volcanic energy from her hands spilling over the Dark Lord. Stone jumped in the air and slammed his fist into Ryan's shoulder. He staggered under the golem's tremendous weight as Terra sent a massive stone block into his chest plowing him to the ground. Raven landed on top of him with her staff pointed at his face.

"Dont blink." she told him.

Ryan knocked her feet out from under him and threw her crystal staff to the wayside. Raven got to her feet and kicked him in the face before he could get up and planted another one to the chest. Ryan got up unaffected by them. Deathstroke ambushed and got him across the back with his sword. The Dark Lord yelled and turned to face him. Raven did a sweeping kick and knocked him face first. He grabbed her ankle and threw her on her butt. Ryan rolled over as Slade pointed a machine gun at him. Ryan fired a blast destroying the gun in his hands, and fired a blast knocking Raven as far away as possible. Slade drew his sword as the two clashed in battle. Ryan blocked his saber with his forearm and punched him over the heart and then in the throat. Ryan grabbed his sword and discarded it as he backhanded him across the face. But Slade wouldnt have it fought back punched him in the face and fought hand to hand. The two avoided each other's hits as they threw punches at each other. Ryan powered up his right hand and punched him in the face breaking his helmet. Deathstroke went flying backward as his helmet shattered and skidded across the ground on his back. Raven shot him in the back with a blast from her staff. Ryan growled and held her in a giant red energy hand and began to strangle the life out of her lifted her into the air. Slade got to his feet and threw a Sladearang at him impaling him in the back. The Dark Lord gasped and looked behind him to see the weapon inbedded in his back as Slade came at him.

Deathstroke got him with a flying roundhouse kick to the face and punched him in the stomach. But Ryan fired an energy blast at him, amazingly Slade stood his ground and began to power on through. The other Titans stood in shock as he made his way towards him. Even Ryan was suprised by his strength and concentrated the blast but nothing was going to stave him off, with each step he soldiered forward as his costume started to tearing into slits along his shoulders and arms. Still he stayed the course and wouldnt stop until he had his hands around his throat. Slade managed to break through the energy ray and rushed at him full force. The black Titan tackled him with a strong shoulder to the gut and knocked him back, forcing him to release his sister. Slade drew back his left fist and plowed his cheek, retracted his right arm and did the same. Powered by anger he pummeled away at Ryan's face and adomin. And pounded his stomach with his fists, increasing in intensity and voracity and was hitting him 20 times a minute. He changed it up with a roundhouse kick to the head and followed up with a double knuckle punch to the face knocking him back. Slade dove for his sword and began to charge it up. His blade glowing atomic orange and lashed out at him slicing his throat with his sword and missed. And sent out an orange energy blade the second time nailing it's target. Ryan staggered backwards and fell Slade held his blade edgewise, the handle resting on his shoulder.

"Give it up Ryan." Robin told him.

The Dark Lord chuckled.

"If you really think I'm going to surrender to the likes of you, your sadly mistaken." Ryan said getting up and dusted himself off.

"Then you give us no other choice." he warned.

"As I've told you 100 times before, I've got more power flowing through me than you can possibly dream." he told them.

The Dark Lord chuckled maniacally as he started to change, his skin turned into a hue of crimson red, his muscles grew larger and his eyes turned completely yellow. The remants of his black sleeveless shirt ripped away as he as his body grew larger and a series of black stripes appeared on his ribs, pecs and arms. His platnium blonde hair grew longer as a pair of horn sprouted from his brow. His teeth grew razor sharp, and started to grow in stature.

"This isnt good." Robin said.

Ryan grew to 7-8 feet tall. His hair grew down to his waist, his eyebrows cracked open revealing a second pair of eyes, his nails turned into razor sharp claws. He continued growing to 10 feet, 11, 12. The Titans could feet his power growing along with his height who was now up to 15 feet tall. Billows of red energy surged through him, turning into jagged energy rings as they circled around his chest and body. The Dark Lord crossed his arms and sent out the excess energy signaling that he's at full strength. The skies turned blood red and the clouds turned black and streaks of crimson lightning raced across the skies.

"Who has the power now?" he asked

"Oh boy." Starfire said.

"Head's up guys." added Slade.

Richter began tearing off the sleeves on his dress shirt and reached back and tore off half of his shirt leaving the other half on.

"What are you doing?" Terra asked.

"Getting myself amped up." he told her.

"I think he has a point." Bryan added.

"What your going to start tearing up your shirt too?" she joked.

"No, I'm saying we need to get in the zone, psych ourselves out. We need to believe we have the strength to beat him." he said. Her brother started to power up, a golden flare of energy washed over him.

The Titan yelled and crossed his arms bringing himself to full power and the ground started to shake.

"He's right, come on guys!" Robin said.

The others used the power boost given to them by Raven as pillars of flaming colored energy washed over them.

"Even with the power boost it wont be enough to stop me." Ryan said.

A missle flew out of nowhere and exploded in his chest, the monsterous demon was brought back a step. The Red Hood flipped through the air and landed on the ground with a rocket launcher on his shoulder.

"You!" Ryan yelled.

"Miss me?" The Hood said.

"Red Hood." Robin said suprised.

"Your here to help us?" Starfire asked.

"Hey what else is there to do?" he asked. The Hood took off his helmet revealing him to be a dark haired man with a red domino mask.

"Even with a traitor in my midst I will still have no problem defeating you. You've actually saved me the trouble of tracking you down." Ryan smirked.

"It'll be a pleasure kicking _your_ ass." The Hood pointed.

The sound of an air-powered grappeling gun filled the air as a girl in a black jumpsuit with a blue cape and cowl and golden gloves and boots along with a yellow symbol on her chest landed next to them.

"Got room for one more?" she asked.

"Batgirl!" Roy said.

"Babs, what are you doing here?" asked Robin.

"I heard there was trouble so I came running." she told him.

"Where you been all this time?" he asked.

"It's a long story." she said.

"One more wont make any difference." Ryan told them.

"How about a few more?" came a nasially voice.

The Titans turned to see Gizmo and Mammoth standing right behind them decked out in full gear. Along with thier teammate Jinx and a few others, one of them wearing red and yellow spandex.

"We brought some friends." Jinx said.

"Who is that?" Robin asked.

"The name's Kid Flash." he introduced.

And two more that were more familar. One was a young man wearing red and blue spandex with the Superman shield on his chest and a leather jacket.

"Conner?" Robin said.

"Call me Superboy." he nodded.

The other one was a girl wearing a short red tank top dress with white stars down the sides of her chest and her long black hair done up in a ponytail.

"Donna." he said.

"Hey Robin, I'm Wonder Girl." she introduced.

"Robin you know these guys?" Starfire asked.

"Oh yeah! Some of them are good friends I made on the racing circuit." he answered.

"Dont forget about me." called one final voice.

A boy with brown hair wearing an orange t-shirt with a blue radioactive symbol on the left side of his chest and white pants.

"Grant!" he said.

"The name's Damage." he said.

"That explains your factory name." the Teen Wonder replied.

"Ahem, if we can get on with this." Ryan said crossing his arms.

"Looks like the gang's all here." Robin said.

A figure jumped through the air and ambushed Ryan with a punch to the back of the head.

"Ga'naaaaaark!" he yelled.

"Whoop, my bad I guess we're missing one." Robin joked.

"What do you say we get down to business?" Superboy said pounding his fist into his hand

"Gladly." Ryan bellowed.

"All right guys, this is it." Robin said.

"So the fate of the world rests on our shoulders, yea us." Arsenal replied.

"You'd rather have someone else fight?" Starfire said annoyed.

"Wouldnt hurt." he replied. Wonder Girl wacked him in the back of the head.

"What? I'm joking!" he defended.

"Sure you were." she told him.

Ryan grew to even larger size topping out at 45 feet tall.

"Then again." he said.

"Prepair for your last battle!" Ryan said.

"I dont think so." Robin muttered.

"You guys ready?!" he asked.

All the Titans took a fighting stance and were ready to face the monsterous Ryan one last time.

"Let's go!!" Robin yelled.

The Titans all raced towards Ryan as Superboy, Wonder Girl, Starfire, Raven, Terra, Geo-Force, Red Star and others took to the air. Kole created a crystal ramp and rushed in with Robin behind her. While Richter, Werebeast and the others launched a ground attack. The airborne Titans opened fire on Ryan as he blocked that attacks with his arms. Superboy used his heat vision blasting him in the face as the other Titans got past his defences and opened up a collossial beatdown on him. Star was the first to attack with a hit to the face. Raven launched a blaze of black energy at him. Red Star fired a blast of nuclear energy at him. Damage fired an energy blast at the ground and launched himself at Ryan and was the first one to attack his stomach as he flew into range, Damage powered up his fist and punched him as hard as he can. Ryan felt the tremendous blast and staggered back, crashing into the side of a building. Fed up with the superheroes Ryan fired laser blasts from all four eyes charring the superheroes and sent them plummeting to Earth. The blast was great enough the shatter the diamond bridge Kole and Robin were on and sent them into a freefall. Robin wrapped his arm around her waist and fired his grappeling hook while the others plummeted. Red Star shook himself awake and saved Starfire while Geo-Force saved Raven and his sister. Wonder Girl grabbed Superboy by the wrist, despite this the group hit the ground with tremendous force. Ryan grabbed Damage and threatened to crush him in his grip. But superhuman powerhouse had a suprise in store for him and fought back, using his super strength he managed to pry himself loose from the demon's grip and even twist his finger popping a knuckle. Ryan growled and pounded him into the ground with his remaining fist.

The Titans managed to pick themselves off the ground, while the remaining troops Arsenal, Red Hood and Deathstroke used high powered rocket launchers against him with little to no effect. Trigon rasied his foot and tried to stomp them. Terra defended them with a massive rock formation. But Ryan proceeded to crush it with his foot, Terra struggled to hold him back when she was assisted by Bryan.

"How about some leverage?" Argent asked as she blasted a giant hand at Ryan's chest and pushed him to the ground. The demon landed with a mighty thud.

But that didnt keep him down for long, as Ryan got up and fired a second wave of eye beams at the Titans. Beast Boy was up for the challenge as he raced towards him on all fours and jumped in the air as the beams destroyed a building behind him. Ryan fired again, Beast Boy countered him with a sonic howl that disrupted the beams and destroyed them to his suprise. Beast Boy came at him and clawed out his left eyes. The demon howled as he knocked him away with his right hand and covered his eyes with his left. Beast Boy flipped back and landed on the ground on all fours safely.

"Way to go Beast Boy!" Robin yelled.

Ryan staggered to his feet and shot a firey blast from his mouth covering the streets. The Titans ran for cover, as he spread his flames across the entire area hoping to incinerate them all. Beast Boy came at him again and slashed his chest with his claws, the demon growled and swung his fist and missed. Beast Boy launched another sonic howl on Trigon knocking him back into some buildings. The emerald werewolf landed on the ground safely and pounded the ground with his fists sending cracks that turned into rifts as Ryan's feet and trapped his left leg. A smirk formed in the corner of Beast Boy's mouth, thankful that he was finally of some use to the team. Ryan growled and sent a hellish blast towards Beast Boy. A black force field covered him saving him from the blaze.

Superboy flew into the blaze with a crystal clear force field covering his body as the flames danced over him. It was his Tactile Telekenesis, Superboy punched him in the nose knocking him back a couple steps into a building. The Boy of Steel continued his assult with a flurry of punches to the face, Trigon swated him like a bug knocking him to the street below Wonder Girl flew in after him and continued his assalt with a punch to the chest driving him through the building wall. Ryan's eyes glowed and fired at her, throwing her to the street. Kid Flash raced up his body and delivered a superpowered kick to the jaw forcing his gaze into the sky. Kid Flash punched him in the jaw with a left and a right through the use of his superspeed. Ryan knocked him aside. Flash grabbed his pinky, which Trigon swallowed up in his grip and dangled the young speedster above his mouth and dropped him in. The Titans were stunned, before long Flash started thrashing around in his mouth trying to break loose. And used his cyclone technique before he spit him out. Kid Flash yelled as he hit the concrete and was covered in siliva.

"Ewww, yuck!" Jinx said.

"Least I didnt come out the other end." he commented.

Superboy went in for another attack and gave him the old 1-2 combo, the demon's head jerked to the left and right. Ryan growled and launched another firestorm from his mouth, Conner threw up his shield to counter it and was thrown back by the blaze as the hellish streaks reached the street and threatened to swallow up the rest of the Titans. Damage jumped up cupped his hands together and unleashed an enormous blast of nuclear energy shielding them from the attack. It wouldnt hold for long.

"Give me a hand!" he yelled.

Red Star got up beside him and fired a burst of red nuclear energy, teaming alongside Damage's orange wave. Raven summoned her power and fired a white energy beam at Ryan's chest. The demon groaned as Starfire, Jinx and others joined in. Superboy used his Heat Vision while Argent created a red plasmatic battering ram. Deathstroke and Arsenal fired a volley of rockets at him, as Kole shot giant crystal shards. Robin and Batgirl hurled bat bombs at him. Explosions coated his chest as he fell backward into a building and collapsed on him. A large cloud of smoke billowed into the air. The team stood in wait to see if they had succeeded. There was a loud rumble and a demonic roar as he sat up out of the cloud of smoke and rose to his feet.

"How are we suppose to beat this guy?" Superboy asked.

"Anyway we can." Robin told him.

"I think I have just the thing, Superboy come with me." Red Star ordered.

"Right!" he said as they flew up towards Ryan.

"Follow my lead!" he told him.

"Got it!" he said.

"We've got to do something, Starfire can you and Raven combine your powers?" he asked.

"Sure, not a problem." Raven nodded.

"I'll help too!" Jinx said. Raven created a hoverdisk for her and followed them into the air.

"Come on we got to do something!" Mammoth told Gizmo.

"On it!" Gizmo said.

The boy genius pressed a button on his suit and turned into a minature battle suit with a winged jet pack. Gizmo took off with Mammoth riding a green rocket powered skyboard and the two flew towards Ryan.

"What are they doing?" Red Star asked.

"There going to ruin everything!" Superboy said.

"Maybe not." Red Star added.

Gizmo's arms changed into cannons and fired laser beams along with a pair of shoulder mounted rocket launchers. Laser beams fired from Mammoth's board as they distracted Ryan.

"I guess they came in handy after all." said Superboy.

While was distracted Superboy and Red Star grabbed his horns, using all thier strength they tossed him in the air and landed in the bay. Ryan growled and thrashed around getting on his hands and feet before standing up, his eyes glowing yellow.

"Now!" Robin yelled.

Raven, Starfire and Jinx shot a combined blast at him, the demon growled as the trifecta but it had no effect on him.

Robin shook his head. "There's got to be something that works!"

Deathstroke looked back and saw Ryan's discarded crystal staff in the rubble.

"Maybe there is." he said and went to fetch it.

The Orange Titan made his way over to the ruby artifact and barely touched it, the crystal glowed but didnt hurt him.

"I wonder." he said and picked it out of the pile of rubble.

The crystal continued to glow as he held his in his hand.

"What are you doing?" Robin asked.

"Trying something different." he answered.

The crystal staff continued to glow until it transformed into a giant lance, an axe head on one end and a half ellipse shaped blade on the other. The weapon started to glow with his orange energy.

"I think I have just the thing to beat him." he smiled.

Robin smiled and nodded and then turned his teammate.

"Batgirl, think you can give my friend a lift?" he asked.

"Sure, follow me!" she said. Slade nodded and took off with the weapon in hand.

The Batwing appeared over the city a second later and flew towards Ryan as the girls continued to stave him off. Unfortuantly it's not working. The canopy opened and Slade stepped onto the wing while tethered to the ship.

"Get me as close as you can to him!" he ordered.

"Not a problem, hang on!" she yelled.

The left wing dipped to the side with Slade onboard as it raced towards the evil demon. Slade powered up the lance with his energy and hurled it at Trigon while he blasted the girls with his eye beams, the lance hurled past him and cut off his left horn. The monster yelled and staggered back as it fell into the sea, the weapon came back like a boomerang and slashed his right side from behind. Again he yelled as a open wound was evident.

"That blade's the only thing that can hurt him. I need to get closer!" he said as it headed back to him and caught it in his hand.

"You got it!" she said. The jet rushed towards him as he got ready to strike again.

The Batwing sailed around behind him as Slade swung his weapon and removed the remaining horn. Trigon roared in pain clutching his head as the jet flew under his right arm. But Trigon's arm came crashing down on the jet and smashed it. Slade was knocked off as the jet broke in half and Batgirl plummeted towards the ocean she ejected at the last minute. Slade wouldnt be as lucky as he fell into the ocean and began to sank. Raven rescued him and pulled him into the air with his weapon in tow, Starfire managed to save Batgirl by flying her to shore as she disconnected her parachute next to Robin.

"Thanks Starfire." she said.

"No problem." she told her.

"Better get back out there." Robin told her.

"Right." Starfire said and flew back to the others.

"Thanks for your help Babs." he told her.

"Hey it's what I do. So now what?" she asked.

"Looks like it's all up to them." he said.

The four Titans hovered in the air staring down Trigon.

"You guys ready?" asked Slade.

"You guys are finished!" Trigon said.

"Let's go!" Raven yelled.

Slade yelled as he sliced the air with his lance sending out orange energy waves at Ryan. The demon did his best to block them as they cut his skin. Slade twirled the weapon across his body as he ushered out a series of attacks on the demon lord before holding the weapon straight up in the air and hurled it at Ryan imbedding the weapon in his chest.

"Hit the mark!" he yelled.

Starfire, Raven and Jinx combined thier powers once more and fired a spiraling wave of pink, green and black energy as it hit the weapon dead on and exploded in his chest.

"Your the one that's finished!" Raven yelled.

The white witch concentrated her powers and brought it out full force.

"Azarath Metrion Zenthos!!" she yelled.

Her etherial spirit was split into giant birds one of light and the other of dark and hurled the duel spirts at her brother. The bird spirits merged together and hit him dead center. A massive explosion issued out as the bird spirit cut through his chest and out the other side sliced off at the chest and arms. Ryan yelled as his body began to dissolve and finally exploded in a terrific blast. The Titans retreated as it enveloped the harbor and expanded upward exploding several times over in the shape of a mushroom cloud. The Titans cheered as Ryan had finally been defeated. His human body splashed into the bay and floated there unconciously. He was laid to rest in his casket a while later with her mother and fellow teammates in attendance. Back at where it all started. Arella wrapped her arms around her son.

"Good bye my son, perhaps next time things will be different." she said.

Ryan opened his eyes and looked up at her, he had a look of peace on his face.

"Hey mom." he said softly.

"Ryan? Ryan!" she said hugging her son.

"Oh my boy." she said.

"I need to rest now Mother." he said softly.

"Of course I understand." she said with tears in her eyes.

Ryan turned to the people he sought so long to defeat.

"I'm sorry for all the hardships I've caused you, perhaps someday I'll be able to make it up to you." he said.

"It's ok." Robin told him.

"You gave us quite a fight back there." Vic told him.

"And you guys were worthy adversaries." he replied.

Raven came up to her brother's casket and wrapped her arms around him, Ryan weakly put one arm around his sister's shoulder.

"I'm going to miss you." she told him.

"I wont be gone for long, I promise." he said.

"I know, you just rest now." she said laying him down in his casket.

"How did you know my staff would defeat me?" he asked Slade.

"It just came to me. I wish things between us could have been better." he said shaking his hand.

"Maybe they will be someday." Ryan said weakly.

"I look forward to that." Slade told him.

"I know, so do I." his arm went limp and he was gone.

Slade bowed his head and placed his hand in the resting position across his waist. Raven leaned heavily against him as he sighed and put his arm around her.

"Good bye Ryan." he said.

_Author's Note: So what did you think of that? I hope I didnt make Ryan seem like a wuss in the end. As you noticed a few new superheroes were introduced in the chapter. Hope you liked it. Always kind of meant to put them in the last battle. Like I said I apologise for the delay. I'm afraid it may have hampered the readership. I know a lot of you have waited to see the next update and I'm real sorry about that. I plan to update a few more times before the story ends. Hope you guys liked this chapter, let me know what you think. _

_Please review_

_Green Gallant_


	47. Graduation Day & Supercross

_Author's Note: Hey guys sorry it took so long to update. I"m not sure if this is the last chapter or not. I guess I'll let you guys decide. Just tying up some loose ends before I end the story for good. You guys have been great. This had been a great run and I hope you guys like what I have in store for this chapter. Enjoy_

**Chpater 47**

**Supercross**

The Titans were walking through the center of town a while later.

"So what are you going to do now that it's over?" Robin asked his best friend.

"I thought about going to work for my dad's company. I want to train to be a Wilderness EMT." said Slade.

"Really." Robin said.

"Yeah, thought it looked intrestring going up in the mountains and rescue people, that kind of stuff. I've been wanting to do that for a while." he told him.

"Cool." he said. The Boy Wonder turned to Superboy and the others.

"Hey Conner, just wanted to say thanks for helping us out." he said.

"No problem, you would have done the same." Superboy said.

"When did you become a superhero anyway?" he asked.

"Guess you could say I born into it." he replied.

"Right, I think I can relate." Robin said.

"He's not the only one." Grant said putting his arms around thier shoulders.

"Seriously we couldnt have done it without any of you guys." Robin told Damage.

"We know which is why we came." was his reply.

The guys laughed as they walked down the street when a young girl called out someone's name.

"Conner!"

"Huh?" The Boy of Steel looked up and saw his girlfriend running towards him.

"Cassie!" he yelled. The girl ran up to him and swept her up in his arms as she kissed his lips.

"Cass when did you get here?" he said.

"I came as soon as I could, I would have been here sooner." she told him.

He pulled away and took a look at her, Cassie wore a red tank top with the Wonder Woman eagle symbol and, jeans and boots with her hair done up in a high ponytail.

"Hey Cass, its good to see you again." Robin told her.

"Do I know you?" she asked. Robin removed his mask.

"Hey!" she said.

"Hey." he nodded. Cassie put her arms around Richard.

"How you been?" he asked.

"Great, how've you been?" Cassie asked.

"Doing good. I was worried about you?" she said turning to Conner.

"What am I Chopped Liver?" Damage asked.

"Hey Grant I'm glad you guys made it out of there just fine." she told them.

"Yeah us too." he said.

It was then Wonder Girl came up behind Cassie and put her arms around her shoulders from behind. Cassie spun around and screamed when she saw who it was.

"Hey, I havent seen you in forever! How you doing?" asked Cassie.

"Doing pretty good, how you been?"asked Donna.

"Good!" she said.

The rest of the team came up to greet them and were startled when some fireworks erupted in the night sky. Purple and gold explosions cover the sky. And several more of them are sent off into the sky in red, blue, green and more gold. The Titans cheered as a flurry of fireworks are sent skyward. On the opposite side of the bay a large wire constructed sign was ablaze as letters started to appear. The sparks swept from left to right revealing the words 'Thank You Teen Titans'.

"All right, yeah!" Superboy yelled.

Cassie cheered as he put his arm around her waist. Kori put her arm around Robin's shoulder as he smiled at her and kissed her as the fireworks went off. Superboy shared a kiss with his girlfriend as the others cheered. Slade kissed Raven's cheek as she turned and kissed his lips. Terra giggled as Beast Boy kissed her neck from behind earning a look from Geo-Force. Beast Boy chuckled as Bryan smiled and pound his back knocking him forward a step causing both of them to laugh. The fireworks continue to light up the night sky as Superboy made a suggestion.

"Hey let's go check out the rides!"

"All right." Raven said.

"Ok." said Slade.

"Sure, let's do it!" added Robin.

"I'm there." Beast Boy said.

"Totally." Terra said.

"Sounds like a plan." replied Stone.

The gang turned around and went to check out the rides. On the far side of town, carnival rides opened up and a roller coaster wizzed by as we see the park from above. While the Titans went on a couple rides, Kori's sister Cami walked down the boardwalk. The Red Hood looked around and finally decided to peel off his crimson domino mask revealing a pair of blue eyes. The Hood placed his mask inside his helmet and ran a gloved hand through his jet black hair and made the helmet disappear in a red flash.

"Hey." someone said.

He turned around to see Cami standing before him.

"I'm Cami, what's your name?" she asked.

"Jason, Jason Todd." he answered.

"You wanna take a walk with me?" she asked.

"Sure." he smiled.

He unstrapped his gloves and stuffed them in his coat pockets and walked with her across the pier.With Ryan and the forces of evil finally vanquished life returned to normal for the city. After countless months of battling the undead legions of the underworld. It felt odd that the Titans were no longer needed. For the next few days our heroes would remain guarded fearing that something was going out the next corner at them, it was an akward transfer having to return to everyday life. The factions that did survive the battle specifically Rorek vowed never to return to the city. While Malchior rotted in a crater that was created by Starfire in the first wave of the attack on San Antholas, half of his body was destroyed and was later disposed of by the city. The only other villain to survive was Blood Falcon, who went back to serving the Joker. However when that didnt work out and the Joker turned him away after beating him to a pulp Rex Nordeman had no other choice but to return to civilian life and racing.

The Red Hood returned to his life of solitude but Cami may have other plans in store. A few days later it was Graduation. Richard, Kori, Slade and Cami were among their classmates, the X High School Class of 2008. Friends and family sat proudly in the stands the boys were dressed in blue robes the girls in white. Richard had an orange sash around his chest while Kori wore two sashes one in orange and another in blue with a blue medal around her neck. Kori had graduated Vale Dictorian while Slade graduated as runner up to Kori as she went up on stage.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to...whoops! Wrong sermon." she joked. The audience laughed.

She got over herself and started on the real speech.

"Friends and family, we thank you for coming here today for the commencement ceremony for the Class of 2008. Through the last few months this school has been through alot. Much more than any school should have to go through. But we made it, and we're safe. With the forces of evil vanquished we are free to live our lives as we see fit. I have seen the future, and I can tell you now that, that future shines alot brighter." she smiled.

"Class of 2008, HOORA!" she punched the air. Her class cheered and applauded.

She made her way downstairs and took her seat next to her friends.

"What are you a Marine?" asked Richard.

Kori blushed and shrugged.

"Spur of the moment."

"Thank you Miss Anders, that was...certainly intrestring." The District Superintendent said. The audience laughed once more.

A while later the actual graduation ceremony was already underway.

"Brittney Alexander." he said. A girl with long curly hair walked up and got her diploma.

"Christine Alma." a brown curly haired girl got her.

"Cameron Ashley Anders." the audience applauded as she went up to get her diploma, Jason was among those in the stands applauding.

"Kori Roxanne Anders." The audience cheered even louder as the Vale Dictorian went up to get her diploma. Rich whistled as she retrieved it from the District Superintendent.

20 minutes later it was finally Richard's time to graduate.

"Richard John Grayson." The gym erupted as the motocross rider got his diploma and shook hands with the DS. The crowd gave him a standing ovation as he took a picture with the DS like those before him and made his way downstairs. The applause continued as went back to his chair.

"As most of you know, Rich is a professional motocross rider and after his stellar season is going to the Supercross World Championships in Anaheim this weekend. So let's give him another round of applause." The DS said. The crowd did as instructed as Rich took a bow infront of the gym from his seat.

Some of the students smiled, others shook thier heads and some did both as he enjoyed his time in the sun. The DS smiled as he continued.

"Roy William Harper, Jr." he said.

Roy went up to get his diploma. The second motocross rider in the school. Who was also going to compete in this weekend's race. The DS commerated him as well, at least he hadnt forgotten about him.

An hour later they'd finally gotten to the 'W's.

"Randy Wilhelm."

"Slade William Wilson." his friends cheered as he got up and made his way to the stage. His father Wintergreen applauded him a standing ovation. Bruce, Alfred and Galfore did the same as he walked up to get his diploma.

As soon as he shook hands with the DS and got his diploma and went back to his chair the Head of the School District made the announcement.

"Ladies and Gentlemen I give you the Class of 2008." he said.

The audience roared as attendants got to thier feet and applaued the newly graduated class. The students turned thier tassles and threw thier graduation caps in the air. Kori put her arms around Richard and kissed his cheek as he kissed her lips. Raven came down and put her arms around Slade congradulating him and enveloping the black Titan in a kiss. As other students went to be with thier loved ones.

About a week later it was time for the Supercross National Championship in Anaheim, Ca. Rich was at Angels Stadium gearing up for the race. The Titans leader wore a blue tracksuit with yellow streaks going across the his chest diagonally from his left shoulder to his right side with black stripes down the shoulders and sleeves of his uniform and along the sides of his pants. Richard put on a clear protective vest over his uniform showing a new name change. The front of his vest now reads "Grayson Racing" in place of the old "Wayne Factory Racing" name and a new uniform number 34. Richard grabbed his yellow racing helmet and black goggles and left the trailer. When he stepped outside the trailer his friends were cheering for him. which suprised a bit.

"Well dude, you finally made it!" Gar said.

"Yeah, I mean we didnt think you'd make it out here." Vic said. Rich looked at him.

"What's that suppose to mean?" he cocked an eyebrow.

"I'm just messing with ya man." Vic said.

"We knew all along you'd go all the way." said Slade.

"Thanks guys." he told them.

"Your one the best riders out there." Raven told him.

"Out there? Hell your one of the best damn riders this sport has ever seen!" said Vic.

"Now that's more like it!" Rich said pointing his finger at him.

"We know your going to do it, so go out there and kick some ass!" Tara said.

"Hell yeah!" he said hugging her the rest of the gang gathered around him.

"Racers report to the starting gate immediatly, I repeat racers report to the starting gate at once!" the announcer said over the PA.

"Guess I better get out there." said Rich. The group broke apart.

"Good luck Rich." Kori said and looked at him lovingly.

"Yeah thanks, I'll see you in a few." he said and kissed her lips.

"Kay." she said.

"Come on guys, let's get off the track!" Slade said as they started up.

Rich got his blue and white motorcycle with yellow crisscrossing stripes over the white "X" stripe across the center of the bike with the number 34 on the front and sides. Richard ran with his bike starting it up and jumped on as it started and kicked up dirt as he raced towards the starting gate while his friends raced off the track into the grandstand. An ESPN blimp hovered over the arena as the telecast started up with a male announcer welcoming the audience at home. While behind the scenes crew were working to make sure everything was up and running in time for broadcast. The opening chords to H.I.M. Wings of a Butterfly began playing as the camera spans across the top of the stadium.

"Hello and welcome to Angels Stadium in downtown Anaheim as we bring you the Supercross National Championship presented by Mountain Dew AMP. I'm Chris Berman, we are just a few minutes away from race time here at Angels Stadium. Tonight a new champion will be crowned. In the hot seat is defending champion Rex Nordeman. Rex, what do you think of this year's competition?"

"Well I think we have a pretty good group of racers this year, I've had the privilage of going up against some of them and hopefully they'll up for the challenge." Rex said.

"And what do you think of up and coming racer Richard Grayson from San Antholas? He's shown a lot of promise as a rookie and is this year's break out rider." the announcer said.

Rex took a minute, sucking in the air through his teeth before responding.

"He's got a lot of tricks up his sleeve, though I question if half the stunts he pulls are legal. I mean he could put alot of riders in danger with those midair flips." he said snidely.

The interview was being played on the mega screen for all to see, some of the racers turned thier attention to Rich. The blue clad racer had to look away.

"He's going to pay for that." said Rich.

The Boardman stood in the center of the track holding up the 30 second sign signaling the racers to get ready.

"Racers start your engines!" the announcer yelled.

The riders started up thier bikes as clouds of white smoke issued out the tail pipes of the multicolored motorcycles as they revved thier engines.

"Get ready to lose Grayson." Rex told him.

"Like I'm going to lose to the likes of you." said Richard.

"Racers, on your mark!" the announcer said.

The riders got into position as the board man held up the 15 second sign.

"Get set..." he told them.

The engines rev as the light changes from red to yellow, to second yellow to green. The gate drops, tires spin kicking up dirt, riders charge out the gate and the race is on! Kori and friends cheer as Richard and others take an early lead and rocket down the first stretch and over the first jump. The riders make it over the hill with ease and they race into the first straightaway and into the first turn just missing the bales of hay that line the track and over the second jump as more make it through the hairpin curve in the first hundred feet of track. Richard guns it and races up the next hill and goes flying for the first time in the race with some massive air. Rex Nordeman comes up beside him and elbows Richard in the side as he rushed past and over the hill infront of him. Richard pays no mind and hits the throttle and aims to keep up with the world champion as they make it through another jump and into the next hairpin curve with Nordeman in first place and Richard in second. Up behind him is Conner Kent on the blue and red #16 bike in third, Roy Harper in fourth and Grant Emerson on the orange bike in fifth. As the rest of the pack rushes to keep up with them.

Nordeman makes it over the next massive jump with plenty of air and tears up the real estate beneath his feet as his tires dig into the dirt and thrust him further up field, Richard is close behind him aiming the close the gap. Conner, Roy and others are starting to break away from the pack. Among them is fellow racer Garth Riptide on the ocean blue and black Kawazaki. Grant Emerson is close behind Garth as he tries to stay ahead of the pack. Roy raced over another hill as he struggles to keep up with Rich while Nordeman is still leading them by two and a half bike lengths. Now that Roy and Richard are on friend terms they dont have to worry about killing each other...much. Roy slammed into Richard's side and then took off. Some habits are hard to let go. Richard shook his head as he went after him and raced up the hill together. The two riders soared through the air above the roaring crowd to the flashes of thousands of cameras intent on capturing the action. The two racers touched down and continued on racing as they tried to keep up with Nordeman who was now a quarter lap ahead of them. And had a comfortible lead over the rest of the pack.

Conner flew over the next hill and came with inches of landing on top of Harper. The crimson rider swerved to the side to avoid being crushed and nearly tripped up Grayson as the blue racer came down. The crowd yelled in disbelief.

"Oh my god that could have been ugly!" the announcer said.

"Hey watch it!" he yelled.

"Sorry dude, next time stay out of the way!" Conner said.

"Jesus man, watch where your going. We cant afford to have accidents like that." said Rich.

"I said I was sorry." said Conner.

"Never mind that, if we let him win. We're all going to be sorry." Roy said as he raced up the next hill.

"Right." Rich said as he chased after him.

"With ya." said Conner.

"Yo Superboy, what the hell was up with that?" asked Grant as he raced up the next hill after him.

"I wasnt watching where I was going." Conner told him.

"Well be careful, we've got enough to worry about out here." he told him.

"Dont have to tell me twice." Conner said.

"What are you guys talking about?" asked Garth.

"Nothing forget it." said Grant.

"Come on guys, keep your head in the game." said Cody Driscoll.

The last rider that spoken was wearing a black and turquoise uniform and a member of Risk Racing. And was a friend to Grant and some of the other racers. Cody's right though, thier not going to win if they keep chatting back and forth. With that in mind the guys turned off thier onboard communicators and focused on the race.

The world champion was now leading the race by a lap and a half. Rich and the others decided it was time to put up or shut up and broke away from the others now it was every man for himself. Rich and Conner raced up the next hill and over it, Grayson hit the afterburner and tore up the track leaving Conner in the dust, others started to take iniative and started to pass Conner dropping him from third to seventh. But this wasnt the end for the Boy of Steel as he rushed to keep up with them and keep the 8th place rider at bay. Now the battle was between Roy, Richard and Grant as they fought each other for second place with Garth in third and Cody in forth. Driscoll caught up to Garth and pushed him aside hopeing to gain control of third place and then second. But Garth pushed back, he wasnt about to go down so easily. Meanwhile Roy and Grant had Rich sandwhiched between them as they raced up the next hill.

"Sorry guys." he said and kicked Roy's bike.

With a flick of his handlebar he pushed Roy off and then shoved away Grant as he flew over the jump securing second place for the moment. Roy and Grant landed not far behind him followed by Cody and Garth.Roy pushed Grant off and tried to keep up with Rich. Grayson skidded into the next turn and continued onward to the next jump. Grant wouldnt be so fortunate and hit the wall and tumbled over. The rest of the riders continued on without him. Grant hit his fist in the dirt and struggled to get his bike back over the wall. With half the pack already past him he got back on his bike and took off. Richard raced up the track and had Nordeman in his sights just half a lap ahead of him. Nordeman saw him coming and hit the thrusters to keep his lead over Grayson. Richard smirked under his helmet and did the same.

Richard went into the next turn his rear tire barely touching the bales as he stormed up the track to take on the world champion. Kori raised her arms in the air cheering him on as Slade and the others pounded the wall infront of them and urged him on to victory. By then Rich had finally caught up to Nordeman. The vetran racer saw him out the corner of his eye coming up on his left side and swung his arm hoping to knock Richard off his bike. The rider dodged it and kicked the side of his bike to knock him off balance. The wheel wobbled but maintained it's grip as they raced over the next hill together. The two traded punches in midair. Rex reached the ground first and continued onward but Richard was hot on his heels.

The two racers went into the next turn, thier bikes skid in the dirt as they near closer to the wall, Richard's rear tire touches the barrier and continues on after Rex. Getting to the next small bump is enough to put him right next to Rex. The rider threw his arm at Rich again. The blue racer grabbed his arm as they went into the next turn forcing him into the bend and hit the dirt as Rich continued on over the jump. The crowd cheered as he broke into lead for the first time. Kori jumped in the air enthuastically as he put some distance between him and the other racers. Frustrated Rex guns it and tries to catch up to him as the rest of the pack overwhelms him. Now it's a race with Roy Harper ganging on Rich. Grant is back in the race regaining third place with Garth in forth, Cody in fifth. With Roy and the others quickly gaining it's anyone's race.

A wave of riders were right behind him. If Rich didnt do something he was going to lose the lead. Riders became more gutsy and started to pass each other in seconds. He raced over the next hill followed by an avalanche of riders that were right on his tail. He couldnt hold them off much longer and quickly decended on him, swallowing him whole. With the back door open a flurry of riders raced on past with Harper taking the lead while Richard's position dwindled down to double digits in mere seconds. He didnt know what happened, one second he was in the lead the next he's in 12th place. These guys were serious, it would take everything in his power to win this race. He gunned the throttle and fought his way through the pack slowly regaining the lead from 12th to 10th but it seemed as though that's the best he could do. That's not good enough, he didnt come all this way to settle for a loss. As they flew over the hill, the rear tire of his bike nearly touched the helmet of another rider. He touched down and powered through the next jump and was starting to retake the lead by leaps and bounds. Grayson was now down to 8th place. They'd never seen such a change up in position in such a short time. Everyone in the audience stood in anticipation and started to cheer the kid from San Antholas. With Harper still in the lead, Rex Nordeman flew out of nowhere and blindsided Roy knocking him from his bike across the barrier and continued on having regained first place.

The rest of the pack issued past him in colored streaks. No time to stop for him. Conner was in second and looking to overtake Rex. As he came up on the left flank Nordeman saw him and thew a punch. Conner dodged it and kicked his bike. But Rex wheels his bike into Conner and knocks landing face first in the ground. Racers go to the outside to avoid hitting him, with Richard now in sixth place he knew it would be a while before he'd tangle with Nordeman again. Conner was on his knees and struggled to get up. Roy had gotten his bike back across the barrier and was running alongside it as it started up and rejoined the race, riding past Conner as the Boy of Steel sat up and quickly got back on his bike. He'd already wasted enought time and was back in the race.

Richard had finally whittled his way down to forth place with Rex Nordeman still in first place. Now he had to compete with his friends and trackmates once again. But he'd have to shelve those feelings if wanted to win this race, not that any of it mattered. They were all in for the same reason so why feel bad? He gunned it once again as he goes to Cody's inside left and struggled to get past him but Cody wasnt about to let him pass. And elbowed him in the face. Rich punched him in the side and pulled to the inside of the track as they leaped over the next hill. Rex continued to dominate the race as Grant sized himself up against the tyrant racer.

"If you think your going to beat me, you got another thing coming!" Rex said as he skidded in the next turn kicking up dirt and made it over the next jump putting him even further in the lead.

"We'll see about that!" said Grant as he made the next jump.

Emerson was half a length behind Nordeman as the rest of the pack rushed to keep up with them over the next jump. Richard was now tied for third with several other racers as they struggled to stay in the race. It seemed hopeless for Rich with the others blocking the way. Rex and Grant flew over the next hill tied for first place and could see the White Flag coming up signaling the last lap of the race. The two gunned it and flew over line infront of the flagman determined to make this a fight to the finish. The rest of the pack passed over with Rich still stuck in the midst of them and didnt seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. Roy was back in 7th place with Conner in 12th out of 24. Richard struggled to get through but the pack was gridlocked and could only look on as Grant and Rex duke it out. Finally Rich powered on through and knocked another racer on his left to the ground, though it wasnt exactly intentional he had to catch up to Rex and Grant. Once there was an opening, Rich gunned it and flew past them on a wheelie. There wasnt much time left.

As Richard raced up the next hill and over it, he still had an angry horde of racers right behind him. Richard poured it on as he rushed to put some distance between him and the other racers while closing the gap on Nordeman and Emerson. It seemed as thought he wouldnt make it, no matter how much gas he gave he just couldnt catch up with them. They were too far ahead, and he was a million miles behind it seemed like. With the other racers nipping at his heels he had to finish out the best he can, third place is better than no place. Fueled by this determination Richard powered on intent on finishing the race as best he can. On the other side of the arena Grant and Rex continued to battle. Neither was willing to give in to the other. A determined Rex roughed his way past Grant continually slamming his bike into Grant as they made it through the final stretch. Rich continued to hold his position as best he can and flew over the next hill. The rest of the pack wasnt far behind him. Grant and Rex continued to punch each other in the ribs as they soared over the next hill. Rex was in the lead once again but Grant took off after him. He wasnt about to lose this. As they came into the final turn the checkered flag waved a short distance away. Rex hit the afterburner and maxed out his engine as he raced towards the finish line. With one last burst of power, Grant did a wheelie and rushed up the hill at full speed, they were neck and neck.

As Rich came around the last turn he saw it was a straight shot to the finish line and decided to give it all she had. And was determined to go out in blaze of glory whether or not he won and charged up the track at 95mph. In seconds he was right behind Rex and Grant. The world champion saw him coming.

"No!" he yelled.

The three riders flew up to the finish line, no special tricks, no stunts just pure power. The flag waved as the front of Grant's bike licked the finish line with Richard right over his left shoulder, Rex could only look on in shock. The three touched down with Grant in first place but who came in second? As they flew past the finish line the rest of the pack quickly followed with Garth Riptide in forth, Cody Driscoll in fifth and Isiah Crocker in sixth. When the race wrapped the officals reviewed the tape to see who finish behind Grant and reviewed it several times, but couldnt figure out which came afterwards. From the sideview Grayson's front tire covered Grant's left arm and his bike was elevated higher than Nordeman's who was still on the hill before jumping over the finish line. The officials couldnt come to a decision. So they tried it from another angle. In all respects it looked like Richard came in second, but they couldnt be for sure. At the same time his bike was on the same level as Nordeman's head which made it seem as though maybe he came in second place.

While the officals debated, Grayson waited outside on his bike. After hearing what the camera saw he had his doubts. The young rider leaned against his bike with his arms crossed, eyes closed when he heard a someone say something.

"Hey Rich, you all right?" asked Grant.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Hey congradulations on winning the race." he said.

"Yeah thanks man. So have they reached a decision yet?" he asked after shaking hands.

"No not yet, that's why I'm here." Rich told him.

"I'm sorry, I know how much that meant to you." said Grant.

"Yeah but what can you do? Least I gave it my all." he said.

"That's true, at least Nordeman didnt win" said Grant.

"Oh man, tell me about it. He needed to be knocked off his pedistal you know?" he laughed.

"Yeah, he's had this big ego since winning Supercross last year." said Grant.

"Bout time someone brought him down a few pegs. I just wish it was me." said Rich.

"You'll get him next time." Grant said.

The door to the office opened behind them, they looked up to see a guy in a white shirt and tie standing at the entrance.

"We've come to a decision." he told them.

The trio stood in the video room a while later watching the monitor.

"After reviewing the tape several times, we've decided that second place goes to Richard Grayson." a fat guy in a suit said sitting at the control.

"Yes." Rich said softly.

"What?!" Rex yelled.

"If you watch this clip, you'll see that Grayson's bike the second one to cross the finish line while Nordeman's bike was still on the hill. We had trouble speculating if there was a difference between cross the line in the air or on the ground and have determined that whoever crosses the finish line first or second is that one that earns that spot and it doenst matter whether or not thier airborne." he said.

Rex turned and slammed his helmet against the floor. Not only had he lost, but he finished in third behind Grayson.

"Are you serious?! No way!" he yelled.

"I'm sorry Rex but that's the final ruling." the man at the controls said.

"Damn it!" he said.

A while later the awards ceremony was being held with the three racers standing on the platform in full view of the audience with everyone cheering. Though Kori and friends werent as enthused about the results.

"Ladies and gentlemen your 2008 Supercross champion, #43 of Damage Inc. Grant Emerson!" the announcer yelled.

Grant raised his arms as they awarded him with a wreath of flowers around his neck and a large golden trophy inside was 10,000 cash. The trophy girl came up and kissed his lips, to which Grant kissed back embrassing the trophy girl to the cheer of the crowd.

"In second place #34, formerly Wayne Factory Racing and now Grayson Racing. Richard Grayson!" the announcer called.

The audience applaued him as he was awarded the silver medal and trophy.

"In addtion Richard has also been awarded the 2008 AMA Rookie of the Year." the announcer added as he was given a large trophy with the AMA symbol adorning the top of the trophy. Along with a cash prize of 5000.

Richard held both awards in the air to cheer of his friends and family. But none probably cheered louder than Kori.

"And finally in third place. Last year's champion, #100 Rex Nordeman of Nordeman Racing!" the announcer said.

The former champion waved as he accepted the bronze trophy and obviously wasnt impressed by what he recieved.

"Once again your AMA Supercross World Champ. #43 Graaant Emerson!" the announcer yelled.

Grant held up his trophy in triumph as the stadium roared. Though downtrodden Rich smiled.

"Congradulations Grant, you deserve it." he said.

"Yeah good luck next year." he smiled.

"Thanks, your a good guy Rich."

"You too." he patted his shoulder.

"Rich!" Kori yelled.

"I got to go, see ya. Enjoy your winnings." he said as he turned to leave.

"Thanks Rich, you too. Congrats on getting Rookie of the Year." he said.

"Thanks man." he said getting off the platform.

"Richard!" Kori yelled.

"Rich!" yelled Vic.

As soon as he got down Kori ran up to him and put her arms around him.

"I'm sorry you lost." she said.

"Ah it's no big deal. I'll get em next year. Least I managed to pick up one trophy along the way." he said showing them the Rookie of the Year trophy.

"Hey that's pretty sweet getting Rookie of the Year. That trophy looks pretty heavy, why dont I take that off your hands?" Gar said reaching for the cash filled trophy before being ripped away by Rich.

"Yeah nice try." he said his friends laughed.

As they chatted Bruce Wayne made his way over to the group along with Alfred.

"Congradulations Rich." his dad said.

"Yeah well it's not first place but it's better than nothing." he said holding up the trophies.

"Still getting Rookie of the Year is quite an honor." Alfred stated.

"Yeah, I think it makes the whole thing worth it. Definatly takes away the sting of losing." Rich said looking at his trophy.

"Indeed." said Alfred.

"So what do you say we go out and celebrate?" Rich yelled.

"Yeah!" the group yelled.

"Whoo! I cant wait to get my drink on!" said Vic.

"As long as you dont dance your way into a pool again." said Rich.

"Oh dawg! How long till I live that down?" groaned Vic.

"I'm thinking probably never." said Rich causing his friends to laugh.

"Come on let's go." said Bruce.

_Author's Note: I want to thank Alman626 for encouraging me to finish up this fic. You played a big part in inspiring me to write this chapter thanks alot. All right like I said I'm leaving it up to you guys whether I should end the story now or write one more chapter if necessary to make it feel like the story is complete so I can continue on with Road to the X Games. So let me know what you think. _

_Please review_

_Green Gallant_


	48. Looking Towards The Future

_Author's Note: All right guys as promised this is the last chapter of X High School. It's been a great run, and I hope you guys like what I have in store. Enjoy, this is the last installment of X High School._

**Chapter 48**

**Looking Towards the Future**

After a long night of partying, the guys stayed the night at Vic's house with everyone crashing on the floor or on the furnature. Since Vic lived by himself they could do whatever they want, and they did. After a night of heavy drinking and partying as well as a late night trip to Denny's around 2 am. Nothing more fun than going to a restaraunt wasted. After they ate Vic threw up in the parking lot and the guys went bowling after that. Safe to say no one got a high score. Tara threw her ball into the next alley and got a strike. Rich was the only one to get a strike in his own ally and then raided the video store to watch some dvds. They rented the DVDs and didnt steal them. While some of them watched a couple movies the others danced and kept the steroes pumping for most of the night. Sometime between 4 and 5 in the morning the guys finally crashed. Slade and Rae slept in one of the guest bed with thier clothes on while Kori and Richard slept on the couch and Gar and Tara slept on the floor with plenty of blankets and pillows to go around. As the sun started to rise, Kori got up and stretched trying not to wake Rich, crept over Gar and Tara and went out to the front porch and sat in the swing.

The swing sat on the right side of the white fenced in porch, she sat there in silence for a few minutes with her leg drawn up to her chest and watched as the sun came up over the driveway infront of her. Her eyes seemed to sparkle as she saw it rise.

"Hey you couldnt sleep?" Rich asked.

She looked up and saw him standing halfway out the screen door.

"No, I just like watching the sunrise." she said looking out to the horizon.

"Oh." he said looking past the door to his left.

"Yeah that's pretty nice." he said.

"I love this time of day." she said hugging her legs to her chest.

"I can see why, it's been a long time since I was up this early." he said watching the sunrise.

An alarm clock radio went off in one of the rooms reading six am and started playing Jimmy Eat World "Work"

"Hey you want to go somewhere real quick?" he asked.

"Where to?" she asked.

"It's not too far from here, just the old railroad bridge you want to go?" he asked.

"Sure." she said.

"Cool." he said stepping out the door and gently closed it. They got into his car and headed up the street to the old abandoned railroad bridge.

_If you only once would let me_

_Only just one time_

_Then be happy with the consequence_

_Of whatever's going to happen tonight_

_Dont think we're not serious, when's it ever not? _

_The love we make is give and it's take_

_I'm game to play along. _

Kori turned her attention to Richard as they drove up the street and smiled softly at him. He saw her smile out of the corner of his eye and looked at her and smiled back. Arriving at the foot of the old railroad bridge they pulled off the side of the road into some gravel that was a makeshift parking lot. Shutting off the engine they got out and began climbing the grassy hillside. He took Kori's hand and helped her up the semi-steep slope.

_All I can say I shouldnt say_

_Can we take a ride? _

_Get out of this place while we still have time?_

_Oh-oh, oh oh oh_

_Oh-oh, oh oh oh_

After helping her to the top, they walked along the railing hand in hand as they made it up to the bridge. The old bridge was black and had patches of rust along the railings. The old Grandview Crossing hadnt been used in 50 years and had become something of a romantic attraction to teenagers. Traversing the side of the old iron bridge hand in hand they walked out to the center and leaned against the railing overlooking the road and some trees. But on the other side houses lined the sides of the road. The bridge sat on the edge of town and in the distance just beyond the trees was the clock tower. Rich smiled and put his hand on Kori's shoulder as she rested her chin on the railing.

"I cant believe we made it through all of this." she said.

"Yeah tell me about it. It's been quite a year." he said.

"Did you see any of this happening a year ago?" she asked.

"Honestly no." he said.

"Remember our first battle together?" Kori asked.

"How could I forget? It was my first battle against the Red Hood. I was on the ropes and then you came out of nowhere and helped kick his ass." he said. Kori laughed.

"Yeah, I did. He didnt know what hit him." she said. Rich laughed.

"I'm glad you showed up when you did." he said.

"Really?"

"Yeah I didnt think I was going to make it out of there, when you showed up...it was like my thoughts and fears were lifted. I didnt know who you were at the time, but I knew if you were on my side I was going to make it through." he said.

'That means alot Richard." she said.

"Yeah well it took alot to say that." he told her. Kori put her arm on his shoulder reassuringly, he turned and smiled at her and she smiled back.

_All the best DJs are saving thier slowest song for last_

_when the dance is through it's me and you come on, _

_would it really be so bad? _

_The things we think may be the same_

_But I wont fight for more_

_It's just not me to wear it on my sleeve_

_Count on that for sure_

Kori put her arms around Rich and buried herself in his chest. The Boy Wonder accepted her embrace and wrapped his arms around her.

_All I can say_

_I shouldnt say_

_Can we take a ride? _

_Get out of this place while we still have time? _

_You want to take a ride?_

_Get out of this place while we still have time? _

_We still have time? _

_Oh-oh, oh oh oh_

_Oh-oh, oh oh oh_

_Oh-oh, oh oh oh_

_Oh-oh, oh oh oh_

"Rich?"

"Yeah?"

"With Ryan gone do you think our kids still exsist in the future?" her voice muffled in his chest.

"What?" he said. She looked up at him, her eyes darted away for a second as she pondered her question.

"Do you think Titans Tomorrow still exsist?" she asked.

"Yeah I'm positive." he told her.

"How can you be certain?" she asked.

"Well since Ryan's body wasnt destroyed that means that he still exsists which means our kids still exsist." he told her.

"That's comforting." she said sarcastically.

"No wait! Uh let me try that again. Uh, well Raven came back so if she's alive that means her kids are alive which means our kids are alive." he corrected. His girlfriend looked at him oddly.

"Sometimes you just got to believe. Believe me Kori, things will play out the way thier suppose to. I wouldnt worry too much about our kids." he smiled.

_Cant say I was never wrong_

_But some blame rests on you_

_Work and play they're never ok_

_to mix the way we do_

"Yeah I guess your right." she smiled back.

"Come on you know I'm right." he said reassuringly as he held her close.

"Yeah." she replied burying part of her face in his chest once more.

_All I can say_

_I shouldnt say_

_Can we take a ride_

_Get out of this place while we still have time?_

_You want to take a ride? _

_Get out of this place while we still have time?_

_We still have time?_

_Oh-oh, oh oh oh_

_Oh-oh, oh oh oh_

"Everything's going to be all right Kori, it will be or my name isnt Richard Grayson." he said. His girlfriend chuckled a bit.

"Thanks Rich." she said.

"No problem." he replied.

"You really are the sweetest guy I know." she told him.

"I try my best." he replied.

His girlfriend chuckled and kissed his lips. The Boy Wonder responded and kissed her back, thier tounges slosh around a bit before breaking apart and rested her head in his chest once again.

Back at the house the clock radio in Slade and Raven's room went off at 6:15 and started to play.

_"Hey what's up? Your listening to Kidd Kradic in the Morning. Big Al, who do you think is the better superhero Batman or Superman?" _asked Kidd.

Raven's eyes fluttered open looked over and saw her boyfriend in bed with her. After seeing he was dressed she looked down and noticed all her clothes were on.

"Hey Slade, you awake?" she asked.

"Hmm?" he asked without opening his eyes.

"Did we do anything last night?" she asked.

"I think we just crashed I dont remember, still have your underwear?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Then nothing happened." he replied.

"All right, thanks Slade." she said.

"No problem." he smiled.

She kissed his cheek, the Terminator smiled even wider as she pecked his lips and put his arms around her and drew her nearer.

"I love you Slade."

"I love you too." he said as he drifted back to sleep.

_"Honestly I got to side with Batman, Superman may be the strongest dude alive. But Batman's got all the gadgets and is the bigger badass in my book." _Big Al said as the conversation between them continued.

In the living room Tara and Gar slept on the floor when Gar suddenly said.

"Hey Tara, you awake?"

"Depends on what you call awake." she replied drousily.

"I was just checking...Tara?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for staying the night."

"Yeah well it was either that or sneek into the house drunk and try not to wake up my brother. Greg said he liked this way better." she told him.

"Oh that's cool. Did you have fun last night?"

"I'll be lucky if I can remember last night." she said.

"Dont worry that's what camera phones are for." he replied.

"I'm not sure I like the sound of that." she said.

"Relax, most of it's just Vic being a dumbass." he said as he went back to sleep. This had a sobering affect on his girl.

"I hope your right." she told him.

"Course I am, I recorded it." he said.

Rich and Kori came in the door a while later, the two looked up at them from the floor.

"Sorry didnt mean to get you up." he said.

"You didnt." said Tara.

"We were already up." added Gar.

"Oh that's good." said Rich.

"The others still in bed?" asked Kori.

"Yeah we havent heard a peep out of any of them." Gar told them.

"All right cool, we thought about going out to breakfast. You guys want to come with?" said Rich. Gar and Tara looked at each other.

A while later they were at Steak n Shake eating breakfast, Kori sat staring at her breakfast without saying a word.

"Hey Kori, you going to eat anything?" Rich asked.

"Yeah...there's something I wanted to tell you...I've been accepted at the University of Washington." she said sadly.

Rich looked up from his breakfast plate at her.

"That's great Kori." he said half-heartedly.

"I was afraid you'd say that." she said looking down at her plate.

"No Kori, look it's great that you've been acccepted. And we'll stay in touch." he said taking a hold of her hand. She looked up at him and could tell he was being honest.

"Thanks." she said.

"So your going to be a Husky huh?" he said. Kory giggled.

"Yeah." she said.

"So what are you going into?" he asked.

"I thougth about maybe a field in sports medicene. I have a softball scholarship to Washington as well." she said.

"That's awesome." he said.

"Yeah, what about you?" Kori asked.

"Well if I can I still play on competing in the X Games, not too sure about college right at the minute." he told her.

"Oh." she said looking down.

"But if I'm up in the area, I'll come and visit you. All right?" he said.

"Kay." she said and wrapped her arms around him.

"Thanks for understanding Rich." she said.

"Yeah no problem." he told her.

Kori and Rich were the only ones at the table. A while later they returned back to Vic's house to tell the others about the big news. The guys were less than thrilled but still showed thier support for her.

"That's great Kori." Raven said.

"Yeah Washington's a really good school." said Slade.

"We're really proud of you." Tara told her.

"We're going to miss you." said Gar.

"I'm going to miss you guys too." she said.

" I told Kori, I'd come up and visit her sometime, and maybe we all could." Rich suggested. The guys looked at each other.

"Yeah that sounds good." said Vic.

"Yeah sure." Tara added.

"All right." said Gar.

"Works for me." Raven stated.

"Sounds good." said Slade.

"Thanks guys." she said.

"You may be going out of our lives, but you'll always be in our hearts." said Rich. Kori smiled.

"Thanks Rich." she said.

"Sure." he told her.

But Kori's glance soon turned to the floor. It seemed like no matter what they tried nothing could raise her spirits. A few hours later at dinner time Kori's mood hadnt improved and couldnt bring herself to eat anything as she stared into her plate of food.

"Arent you hungry?" her dad asked. Kori blinked and looked up at her dad.

"Huh? Oh, I guess I dont have much of an appitite. Can I be excused?" she asked.

"Sure princess." he told her.

Kori got up and left the room as her father looked after her concerned.

"What's wrong with her?" Cami asked.

"She just has a lot on her mind." Galfore told his eldest daughter.

"Think she'll be all right?" Ryan asked.

"I hope so." he replied.

Kori sat on her bed a while later watching TV. The teen sighed as she flipped through channels without having intrest in anything that was on. Giving up, Kori flipped off the tv and threw her remote on the bed and went out to the porch swing a while later. Sitting out on the porch swing she watched as the sky change from blue to orange mixing in a hint of purple as the dawning stars started to come out, the young girl watched aimlessly as the stars grew in brilliance with her legs pulled up to her chest.

"Is everything all right?" her dad asked standing in the doorway.

She looked at him and looked away before answering.

"I've just been thinking alot about moving." she said.

"I know it's alot to take in. Mind if I join you?" he asked stepping out the screen door.

"I guess so." she shrugged. Galfore shut the front door and sat in a deck chair next to her.

"When we first moved here I was afraid people wouldn't accept us because we were aliens. Because of our mostly human appearance, I saw that they didnt judge us by our looks and fit in just fine." he said.

"It's not that, me and Rich have been together for a long time...I dont think I can leave him." Kori closed her eyes and rested her brow against her thumbs.

"I know it's not easy Kori, and I know how much you love each other. But these sort of things happen." he said.

"I know, I just wish I hadn't picked a school that was so far from him." she told him.

"Well why did you apply to Washington then if you didnt want to move?" he asked.

"Because thier one of the best schools, it was suppose a long shot. Just one of the schools I applied for to see if I was good enough...guess I was right." she said.

"So do you still want to go?" he asked.

"Well yeah, I mean part of me does. They have a good softball program I wouldnt mind being in. And it would give me a chance to be on my own. I can still email Richard, it just wouldnt be the same as being there in person." she said.

"I understand your frustration, I want to see you go as far as possible in life. I think you should go to Washington, since you now have an obligation to them. You'll have to figure out what you and Richard are going to do." he told her.

Kori looked down at the floor, as much as she hated it she knew he was right. It wasnt that going to Washington didn't appeal to her, it was just the little detail of being away from Richard that irked her. But there was no sense in throwing all that away just to be with him was there? A simple question with a not so simple answer that kept barking at her into the early morning hours. After a night of tossing and turning, Kori sat up in her bed at 3 in the morning the same thing replaying through her head. As she held her legs close to her chest a thunderstorm rumbled outside her window. Taking her mind off her struggles for a moment she looked out the rain-washed window the storm clouds flashed. Setting her feet on the wood floor she got up and peered out her window and watched the storm for a bit.

_She says it's cold outside and hands me my raincoat_

_She's always worried about things like that_

_She says it's all gonna end it might as well be my fault_

_And she screams and her voice strains_

_And she says baby_

_It's three am I must be lonely_

_When she says baby_

_Well I cant help but be scared of it all sometimes_

_She says the rain's gonna wash away and I believe it_

After getting dressed she made her way downstairs a while later and went out to her car. Driving down the streets of San Antholas and surveyed some of the homes and buildings as she went past. Kori drove around for a while before finally pulling into the Denny's from the night before and sat next to a window and had a cup of coffee. The rain had let up a bit since she left.

_She's got a little bit of something, God it's better than nothing_

_And in her color portrait world she believes that she's got it all_

_She swears the moon dont hang quite as high as it use to_

_And she only sleeps when it's raining_

_And she screams, and her voice is straining_

"Can I get you anything?" a waitress asked her.

"I guess I'll take a burger or something." she shrugged.

"You were here last night weren't you?" the waitress asked.

"Oh yeah, sorry about last night." Kori chuckled.

"It's all right, what brings you out here tonight?" she asked.

"I had trouble sleeping, I'm moving to Washington and I'm leaving my boyfriend behind." she said.

"Oh I'm sorry dear, that's terrible. How long have you been together?" she asked.

"About a year." she told her.

"And I bet you've been through alot."

"We have. Its just hard to imagine being away from him. I must sound like an idiot." Kori said.

"No, no your not. What your feeling is natural, and I'm sure he feels the same way about you." she said setting down her tray to sit with Kori and held her hand.

She looked up at the older woman and smiled a bit.

"Thanks." she said.

"Moving away is never easy, I should know. I've done it several times throughout my life. I can tell that you care alot about him and the basis of every relationship is communication. If you guys stay in close contact then you should do just fine. I wish we could have sent messages as lightning fast as they do now, would have cut down on postage." she joked earning a laugh from Kori.

_And she says baby __It's three am I must be lonely_

_When she says baby_

_Well I cant help but be scared of it all sometimes_

_She says the rain is gonna wash away and I believe it_

"I gotta say that's the best I've felt all day." Kori told her.

"You just hang in there dear, everything will be all right." the waitress told her.

"Yeah. Its funny when I was younger I use to think I'd have this fairy tale happy ending. I guess life doesnt really work that way does it?" she asked.

"It seldom does, but just because life isnt perfect doenst mean it cant be." the waitress said. Kori looked at her bewildered.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"It means that you hold power over the things in your life. If you want to be with this guy, you have every right to persue it." the waitress told her. This perked up the young girl's spirits considerably.

_She believes that life is made up of all that your use to_

_And the clock on the wall has been stuck at three for days, and days_

_She thinks that happiness is a mat that sits on her doorway_

_But outside it stopped raining_

"Yeah I guess your right." she smiled.

"Of course I am." the waitress smiled back. Kori stood up and put her arms around her.

"Thanks so much, you've been a big help tonight." she told her.

"I'm glad dear." she said hugging her back.

"What's your name?" Kori asked.

"My name is Ruth dear, and you are?"

"It's Kori." she said.

"That's a cute name." Ruth said.

"Thanks." she said.

"Now how about that burger?" Ruth asked.

"Sure I'd like that." she smiled.

_And she says baby_

_It's three am I must be lonely_

_When she says baby_

_Well I cant help but be scared of it all sometimes_

_She says the rain is gonna wash away and I believe it_

"I guess I know what needs to be done now." she told herself.

Later that morning Kori was packing up her things for collage. As she cleared out her drawer she came across a picture of the guys. She smiled and put the picture in the suitcase and closed the lid. As she looked around the room most of it lay empty with the exception of a partially peeled off posted on the wall next to her bed. She walked downstairs with the suitcase in hand a while later.

"Is that the last of it?" her dad asked.

"Yeah." she told him.

"Then let's get going." he said.

"Kay." she said softly as they went out the front door. Outside her friends were waiting.

"I didnt think you'd be leaving this soon." Rich told her.

"Yeah, well we got a long drive ahead of us so might as well. Besides school starts early this year." she said.

"We're really going to miss you." he told her.

"I know, I'm going to miss you too." she said putting her arms around him.

"I love you Kori."

"Love you too." she said as she kissed his cheek and lips, Rich kissed her back.

The two broke thier embrace and hugged each of her friends. Put her arms around Gar and then Tara, then Vic and finally Slade and Raven in that order.

"Gonna miss you Kori." said Gar.

"I know."

"Let us know when you get there." said Tara.

"I will."

"Try not to get into too much trouble." joked Raven.

"What could happen?" she joked back.

"You take care of yourself." Vic said kissing her forehead.

"I will, thanks." she smiled.

"Let us know how the first week goes, we'll try and meet up with you before the symester's over." said Slade.

"That'd make it go alot easier." she smiled.

"Hey new school, new rules. You'll fit in just fine. Besides we're just an email away." he told her.

"Yeah." she said.

"Kori, we better get going." her dad said.

"Right." she said before picking up her purse.

"Catch ya later." she said getting into the SUV.

"Bye." said Rich.

"See ya!" said Tara.

"Have fun up there, we'll come visit!" said Gar.

The car started up and they pulled out of the drive. The guys walked out into the street and saw them off.

"So that's it huh?" asked Gar.

"Yeah but dont worry, we'll see her again." said Rich.

Slade put on a reasurring hand on his best friend's shoulder. Kori looked out the back window of the car pressing her hand against the window as her friends waved.

_Well I cant help but being scared of it all sometimes..._

**Cast**

**Richard Grayson/Robin**

**Kori Anders/Starfire**

**Slade Wilson/Deathstroke**

**Raven**

**Gar Logan/Beast Boy**

**Tara Markov/Terra**

**Roy Harper/Speedy/Arsenal**

**Supporting cast**

**motocross riders**

**Grant Emerson/Damage**

**Conner Kent/Superboy**

**Cody Driscoll (Risk)**

**Garth Riptide (Aqualad) **

**Isiah Crocker (Hot Spot)**

**Motocross supporters**

**Donna Troy/Wonder Girl I**

**Cassie Sandsmark (Wonder Girl II)**

**Toni Monetti/Argent**

**Leonid Kovar/Red Star**

**Kole Weathers/Kole**

**Ga'narrk**

**Rev. Galfore Anders**

**Cami Anders (Blackfire)**

**Ryan Anders (Redfire)**

**Bruce Wayne/Batman**

**Alfred Pennyworth**

**Barbara Gordon/Batgirl**

**Commissioner Jim Gordon**

**Bryan Markov/Geo-Force**

**Gregory 'Greg' Markov/Richter**

**Clarissa Markov (Tara's mom)**

**Tawny Markov (Tara's sister)**

**Teachers**

**Monty Hilldale/Mad Mod**

**Arthur Light/Dr. Light**

**Sabastian Blud/Brother Blood**

**Martha May-Eye/Mother May-Eye**

**Principle Angela Roth/Arella**

**Ding Dong Daddy**

**Titans Tomorrow**

**Mike Grayson/Ghostwing**

**Kendra Grayson/Starblaze**

**Cooper Stone/Everest**

**Dustin Logan/Landslide**

**Grant Wilson/Ravager**

**Rachael Wilson/Haunter**

**Villains**

**Ryan Trigon/Trigon II**

**Malchior the Dragon Knight (Crimson Knight)**

**Rorek the Wizard Knight (Silver Knight)**

**Jason Todd/Red Hood**

**Rex Nordeman/Blood Falcon**

**Joker (cameo)**

**Harley Quinn (cameo)**

**Two-Face (cameo)**

**Thanks for all the reviews guys, you've been great. Be sure to read the upcoming college sequel. **

Special thanks to Hidden Iris for all her support and input. This story has been going on for 2 years now and now it has finally reached it's end. Seriously I cant thank you guys enough for making it the raging success it is. And I look forward to writing the new sequel. Now one last time _everyone_

_Please review. _


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